How Veganism is Growing in 2024: Key Highlights and Trends Around the World.

The global vegan movement continues to expand in 2024, showing significant growth across various regions and market sectors. While precise figures on the number of vegans vary across studies, the overall trend points towards a substantial increase in both vegan adoption and the market value of plant-based products.

Global Vegan Market Growth:

Statista reports the global vegan food market reached $24.6 billion USD in value and is projected to grow further in 2024. The plant-based meat market alone is estimated at $10.2 billion USD.
Another Statista report projects the global vegan food market to exceed $27.8 billion USD in 2024, up from nearly $25 billion USD in 2023. This growth encompasses not only vegans but also flexitarians reducing meat consumption.
Vegconomist highlights the significant growth of the plant-based market in various countries, including Spain (fourth largest in Europe, anticipating 10% growth by 2025), France (18% increase in value sales between 2021 and 2023), and Brazil (38% increase in retail sales of plant-based meat and seafood in 2023).

Regional Highlights:

UK: Around 2.5 million vegans are estimated in the UK (3.7% of the adult population), a rise of 1.1 million from 2023.
USA: Estimates for the number of vegans in the USA range from 1% to 4% of the population, with significant growth in plant-based product sales (66.6% increase from 2018 to 2022).
Canada: Reportedly 850,000 vegans in 2024, with significant growth in meat substitute sales (119.9 million to 226.7 million from 2015 to 2022).
Australia: Around 2% of the population (500,000 people) identified as vegan in 2020.
India: Statista reports that 11% of the Indian population are vegans, the highest percentage globally.

Key Trends:

Whole Foods: Predicts a shift towards less processed, whole-food plant-based options in 2024, highlighting mushrooms, legumes, and plant-based seafood as key trends
Sustainability: A major driver of veganism, with increased focus on water conservation and using entire food parts in production.
Plant-based Seafood: Identified as a major growth area by both Whole Foods and the Specialty Food Association
Wholefood-focused products: Growing consumer demand for minimally processed plant-based options using ingredients like legumes and grains.

Challenges and Inconsistencies:

Data on the exact number of vegans remains inconsistent across different surveys and methodologies. Factors like varying definitions of veganism, self-reporting biases, and regional differences contribute to this variability.

This overview demonstrates the significant growth and evolving trends within the global vegan movement in 2024. While challenges remain in accurately quantifying the number of vegans, the expanding market for plant-based products and the increasing consumer interest in sustainable and ethical food choices clearly indicate a strong and continuing upward trajectory.