In 2010-2014 meat production decreased on average 1.3% per year, reaching 836,000 tonnes in 2014.
This production was not enough to ensure the self-sufficiency of the country, therefore it had to be complemented with almost 30% of imports. This dependency generated a Trade Balance deficit of 788 million euros in 2015, about 1/5 of the Food Trade Balance deficit.
The animal production sector had in 2010-2014 high investment rates due to the need of farms conversion imposed by EU legislation.
The production costs with the raw materials, represented by the price index of compound feed (IPAC), accounted for over 50% of the intermediated consumption of animal production enterprises; this index had an average annual growth rate of 6.0%, double of the registered in the producer price index.
The data already available for 2015 points to a significant deterioration in particular of the pig farming conditions, with a significant reduction of the ratio between the producer price index and the compound feed price index.