The Economic Arguments for Global Meat Reduction

These scientific studies show how meat reduction would supercharge global economies, save money, and create jobs. This is a powerful argument that is underutilized in political conversations!

As advocates, we need to reckon with a sometimes uncomfortable truth: while we are often motivated by animal welfare, many potential allies aren’t. When choosing bills to support, a politician needs to stick to their party’s platform, maximize their re-election chances, and consider political repercussions. Morals and ethics certainly factor in, but usually don’t drive the conversation. Instead of digging our heels in, we need to be able to adapt our message. We need to be able to talk numbers.

Thankfully, the numbers are on our side. We can correct common misconceptions: that vegan diets are expensive, that shifting to a more plant-based agricultural system would harm the economy, or that animal advocacy can harm workers’ rights. I’ll be honest, I’ve known for years that animal-heavy diets leave money on the table — the inherent inefficiencies of animal agriculture are cause enough — but the sheer scale of the wasted money blew me away. We’re talking about trillions of dollars. A food-system shift isn’t just good for animals and the environment… it’s good for the bottom line.

Vegan Diet Financial Benefits:

Despite what many internet denizens like to tout online, vegan diets usually save people money! According to several studies, the total savings of switching from an omnivorous diet to a vegan diet range from 11% to 41%.

• In this 2023 analysis of a diet experiment in the US, participants who ate vegan saved 16% on their grocery bills, or over $500 per year.

• This 2022 study in Portugal found that vegan consumers spent the least among the groups examined.

• A 2025 Austrian study found that vegan diets can save up to 41% of shopping costs (225 euros) for a family of four.

• This 2021 German study found that monthly grocery bills for vegans cost 91 euros less compared to omnivorous diets, or about 11% less.

  • Note: this study examined five types of omnivorous diets and two types of vegan diets, and I arrived at the number above by averaging these diets in Table 4. Importantly, high-protein vegan diets cost more than high-carb vegan diets.

• In this 2021 Lancet study, researchers found that “high grain vegetarian and vegan diets” had the most significant cost reductions for consumers in high-income and upper-middle-income countries (22–34% cheaper grocery carts).

  • The authors say that “Our findings suggest that [. . .] progressive policy approaches can, when successful in changing diets, be financially progressive as well, and particularly so when they contribute to internalising some of the costs that are currently not accounted for.” In other words, public health programs that promote more plant-forward diets would likely pay for themselves over time.

Direct Economic Benefits of a Plant-Based Transition:

A large-scale shift to more plant-based diets can benefit the global economy by creating more jobs, primarily in alternative protein development. Estimates of the jobs range from tens of thousands per country to tens of millions globally. I wasn't able to find any studies that showed a net job loss — the research was all in agreement. Less bacon can really bring home the bacon!

• A 2025 study in the U.S. found that if alternative proteins expanded significantly by 2040, the U.S. economy could create nearly 70,000 new net jobs and contribute over $200 billion to the GDP.

• This 2025 study in Germany found that, by 2045, the alternative protein industry could generate €65 billion and create up to 250,000 jobs in Germany by 2045. However, the authors note that this scenario would require political support to achieve.

• This 2023 report finds that a global shift to alternative proteins could generate up to 83 million jobs globally by 2050.

• This 2023 UK report finds that an expansion of alternative proteins in the UK (buoyed by investments and regulation) could create up to 25,000 jobs by 2035.

• This 2024 report on UK universities found that switching to plant-based catering can save a medium-sized university half a million pounds a year!

These reports can help demonstrate to politicians the importance of developing this industry, as it can improve the lives of their constituents.

Indirect Economic Benefits of a Plant-Based Transition:

Since animal agriculture harms the world more than plant-based agriculture, shifting our food production would unleash a plethora of indirect economic benefits. There are two primary categories of benefits: reduced healthcare costs (both because vegan diets are healthier and because factory farms pollute the air and water, leading to illnesses) and climate change mitigation (because plant-forward agricultural systems use significantly less land and emit fewer greenhouse gases).

This is where the numbers start to get big: now we’re talking tens of trillions of dollars in total — roughly the GDP of the entire United States in savings.

• This 2023 Eurogroup for Animals report found that the external costs of animal agriculture production and consumption totaled just over €3 trillion. The primary sources of the externalities were low animal welfare, diet-related disease, air pollution, and land use.

• This 2023 Nature study found that “a dietary shift away from animal-sourced foods could greatly reduce these ‘hidden’ costs, saving up to $7.3 trillion worth of production-related health burden and ecosystem degradation while curbing carbon emissions.”

• This 2016 study found that a global shift away from animal products could save “1–31 trillion US dollars, which is equivalent to 0.4–13% of global gross domestic product (GDP) in 2050.”

• This 2020 FAO report found that vegan diets could avoid $ 1.3 trillion in healthcare-related costs and between $0.8 and $1.3 trillion in climate change emissions mitigation. Bonus, the report found that “a vegan diet could save “13.7 (7.9-19.4) million avoidable deaths globally in 2030.”

• This 2024 report estimates that the NHS (England’s National Health Service) could save £2.2 billion in medical fees if the British population ate meat-free for weekday lunches.

• This 2024 report estimates that factory farming costs British taxpayers over £1.2 billion annually, in the form of subsidies, environmental pollution, respiratory illnesses, and lost farming jobs.

• A 2023 UK preprint estimates that if everyone in the UK adopted a plant-based diet, the NHS would save a total of £6.7 billion per year.

The indirect economic benefits of a plant-based food transition are substantial — this short list is not exhaustive on the topic. I like this piece from Vegan Horizon that breaks down the savings and Thomas Manandhar-Richardson’s talk at VARC earlier this year, which does a great job explaining these ideas in easy-to-understand language.

Other considerations: This 2016 study points out that a shift to plant-based diets would also incur indirect costs, such as increased spending on marketing plant-based foods due to meat’s outsized cultural importance. And some studies (like this one) point out that a food production shift may have negative consequences for those currently employed by animal agriculture. This should signal to advocacy groups to think carefully about creating programs to help these affected workers or bringing them into their coalition.

The Bottom Line: Let’s Focus on the Bottom Line More

Many of you reading this may not be particularly concerned about the economic impacts of a plant-based food transition, but we must acknowledge that those in power prioritize GDP and job growth over GHGs and welfare. We need to be able to tailor our arguments to the group we’re talking to. Money talks.

It may be helpful to take a look at the climate movement, which is facing a similar hurdle: convincing people that a clean energy transition won’t harm oil and coal jobs. Phrases like “green jobs” or “Green New Deal” can help deal with these anxieties, and many people think that climate groups should publicly ally with labor unions and labor rights groups to make this shift more ethical and popular. Meat reduction advocates should take a page from their books — I encourage you to use these resources frequently when constructing arguments for systemic meat reduction.

Did I miss any studies? Comment below!

Thank you

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