Turkey’s red meat production down 4 percent in 2017

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Turkey’s annual red meat production dropped 3.97 percent to 1.12 million tons in 2017 compared with the previous year, the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) stated on Feb. 12. 

Red meat production in the country consisted of cattle (987,482 tons), sheep (100,058 tons), goat (37,525 tons) and buffalo meat (1,339 tons), according to TÜİK. 

In December 2017, Turkey’s red meat production had risen by 9.1 percent to reach 295,329 tons compared with the same month of 2016, it added. 

Last week, TÜİK said the total number of animals - mostly bovine and ovine animals -- in Turkey amounted to 60.7 million heads last year, marking a 8.6 percent year-on-year rise.

The country also produced 20.7 million tons of milk, up 12 percent year-on-year, and 114,471 tons of honey, up 8.3 percent year-on-year, according to TÜİK.