The cost of red and processed meat

The report identifies a significant global health and economic toll from red and processed meat consumption, which is linked to type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. It highlights a 'treatment-over-prevention' trend in wealthy nations, particularly in Europe, where robust healthcare systems mitigate disease outcomes at a high financial cost. The authors argue that implementing fiscal policies and dietary interventions to reduce meat intake could save billions in healthcare spending and significantly reduce premature mortality and disability.

• Global meat consumption increased by nearly 20% between 2002 and 2022, despite evidence that red and processed meat increase the risk of cancer, type II diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Processed meat is classified by the IARC as 'carcinogenic to humans', while red meat is 'probably carcinogenic to humans'.
• The economic impact of red and processed meat consumption reached an estimated USD 285 billion globally in 2020, encompassing direct medical costs and indirect costs like loss of productivity.
• High-income countries in Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania face a substantial disease burden from meat consumption. Europe is particularly affected, accounting for 14 of the top 20 countries with the most years of life lost (YLLs) due to red meat and 18 of the top 20 for processed meat.
• Certain wealthy nations, including Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Japan, and Singapore, achieve better-than-expected health outcomes despite high meat consumption, but do so at a high cost. Switzerland spends up to USD 99,000 to avert one disability-adjusted life year (DALY) for processed meat and USD 76,000 for red meat.
• Many European nations prioritize treatment over prevention; for example, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, and France spend 4% or less of their total healthcare budgets on preventive healthcare.
• Reducing the disease burden from processed meat by 30% could generate significant annual healthcare savings: USD 21 billion in the US, USD 2.2 billion in Germany, USD 1.4 billion in the UK, and nearly USD 1 billion in France.
• In the US, a 30% reduction in red meat disease burden could save up to USD 12.5 billion annually. For processed meat, a 30% reduction is estimated to be equivalent to adults eating six fewer rashers of bacon per week, which could prevent 350,000 cases of type 2 diabetes and 53,000 occurrences of colorectal cancer over 10 years.

APA

Team, Z. (2025). The cost of red and processed meat. Zero Carbon Analytics. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/nature/the-cost-of-red-and-processed-meat/

Chicago

Team, ZCA. The cost of red and processed meat. Zero Carbon Analytics, 2025. https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/nature/the-cost-of-red-and-processed-meat/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Team |first1=ZCA |title=The cost of red and processed meat |publisher=Zero Carbon Analytics |date=30 September 2025 |url=https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/nature/the-cost-of-red-and-processed-meat/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{team2025cost, author = {Team, ZCA}, title = {{The cost of red and processed meat}}, institution = {Zero Carbon Analytics}, year = {2025}, month = sep, url = {https://zerocarbon-analytics.org/nature/the-cost-of-red-and-processed-meat/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }