According to "Analysis of the mutton market in Russia", prepared BusinesStat in 2018, in 2013-2017 the sales of lamb in the country increased by 8.5%: 121,4 to of 131.7 thousand tons the Dynamics of the indicator in these years were mostly positive: a fall was observed only in the crisis 2015 (4.2% compared to 2014). Lamb is an expensive meat, so in terms of economy, the proportion of consumers had reduced their consumption and had moved to the more affordable types of meat (e.g., chicken).

In the period under review, lamb production for slaughter in carcass weight in the country grew by 15.4%: to 173.4 thousand tonnes in 2013 to 200,1 thousand tonnes in 2017 the Lowest growth rate was observed in 2015 (by 0.4% on the previous year) and the largest – in 2014 (by 7.4%). Mutton for slaughter in carcass weight produced in Russia, mainly in households, the share of which in 2013-2017 accounted for an average of 70.7% of the total production. The share of private (peasant) farms accounted for over the period of about 21.4% of the production, and the share of agricultural enterprises is of the order of 7.9%

Between 2013 and 2017 imports of mutton in Russia decreased by 72.7%, from 10.0 to 2.7 thousand tons per year this indicator was negative, the largest decline took place in 2015 – on 61,0% relative to 2014 the Main reason for the reduction in supply from Australia and New Zealand. 4 Aug 2014 the Australian Union of manufacturers lamb announced the termination of supply of this meat to the Russian market. The official reason is to punish Russia for what she allegedly to blame for the death of Malaysian "Boeing", on Board of which there were 27 citizens of Australia. Some Australian manufacturers did not support this decision, but many people still do not sell mutton to Russia for political reasons. In this situation, the share of imports in the Russian market has considerably decreased.

According to the estimates of BusinesStat, in 2018-2022 gg sale of mutton in the country will grow by 1.9-3.0% in the year. By the end of the period, sales reached 150 thousand tons, which exceeds the value, 2017 13%.

Photo: zhenskoe-mnenie.ru