Per capita Canadian beef consumption dropped almost 8 per cent last year - the biggest annual decline since 1979.
The Canadian Cattlemen's Association says that's the first time per capita beef consumption has dropped below 18 kilograms.
Its being blamed on tight supplies.
Canadian beef production was down 5 per cent last year, imports down 1 per cent and exports up 4 per cent.
The net result was an over 6 per cent drop in beef supplies available for domestic consumption.
According to figures published by the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, pork and poultry consumption both increased last year with larger supplies.
The gap between per capita beef and pork consumption narrowed to just over half a kilogram.
The ten-year average for that gap is 3 and a half kilograms.
The numbers show beef continues to account for the largest share of Canada's total red meat and chicken expenditures at 41 point 3 per cent.
