VegSocUK Information Sheet THE VEGETARIAN SOCIETY STATISTICS The following surveys appear in date order. ___________________________________ Rationing Records 1945 100,000 vegetarians. Realeat Survey 1984 Gallup Survey of 3061 over 16 year olds. 2.1% of population claim to be vegetarian. 2.6% Avoid red meat (additional). 30% eating less meat. Realeat Survey Feb 1985 Gallup Survey of 3181 over 16 year olds. 2.6% vegetarian. 2.6% avoid red meat. 30% eating less meat. Realeat Survey 1986 Gallup Survey of 3881 over 16 year olds. 2.7% vegetarian. 3.1% avoid red meat. 35% eating less meat. Realeat Survey 1987 Gallup Survey of 3027 over 16 year olds. 3.0% vegetarian. 3.6% avoid red meat. 33% eating less meat. Realeat Survey 1988 Gallup Survey of 2481 over 16 year olds. 3.0% vegetarian. 5.5% avoid red meat. 35% eating less meat. 9.3% of children aged 6 months to 15 years vegetarian or avoided meat. Mintel 1989 Survey of 933 adults. Statement: "Slaughter of animals should be banned". Agreed with statement: 12% (male: 10%, female: 15%). Statement: "Slaughter of animals should be acceptable only in connection with the manufacture of medicines". Agreed with statement: 6% (male: 4%, female:7%). Leatherhead FRA July 1989 3% of population are vegetarian. 2% avoid all meat. 16% cut down on all meat. 27% cut out/down on red meat. 48% avoid meat to a greater or lesser extent. Mori Poll for the Sunday Times October 1989 3% of population are vegetarian. 2% of population had been vegetarian but had given it up. Realeat Survey Jan 1990 Gallup Survey of 3027 over 16 year olds. 3.7% vegetarian. 6.3% avoid red meat. 43% eating less meat. Vegetarianism by Socio-Economic Groups: AB - 4.5%, C1 - 5.5%, C2 - 2.5%, DE - 2.9%. Nielson Market Research June 1990 6% of the population do not eat meat but may eat fish. Mintel July 1990 Survey of 1000 15-24 year olds. 11% do not eat meat. 65% expressed concern over the healthiness of food. Barclays Bank 1990 Youth Poll Survey of 11-15 yr olds. Favourite Food was vegetarian for 14% of sample. 59% said cruelty to animals was the issue they felt most strongly about. Complan 1990 Report A Survey of 700 participants carried out at the London Marathon, Great North Run and the English Schools Athletics Championships recorded 9% of athletes as being vegetarian. RSGB September 1990 Survey of 900 women (16-70 years). 1 in 4 are reducing the consumption of red meat. 15% eat little or no red meat. Vegetarian Society Food Survey January 1991 Bradford University Survey of 943 adults and 2651 11-18 year olds. 7% of adults claim to be vegetarian (3,100,000). 9% of adults avoid red meat (4,000,000). 4% of male adults vegetarian, 10% of female adults vegetarian. Vegetarians by age: 11-24 year olds - 9%, 25-34 year olds 8%, 35-44 year olds 6%, 45-54 year olds 4%, 55- 64 year olds 9%, 65+ years 4%. Vegetarians by Socio-Economic Groups: AB - 4%, C1 - 8%, C2 - 9%, DE - 6%. 8% of 11-18 year olds claim to be vegetarian (500,000). Guiness Survey January 1991 96% of Pubs cater for vegetarians. Barclays Bank February 1991 Survey of 618 9-11 year olds. 27% voted meat eating as "very" or "quite" antisocial. Labour Research Department March 1991 Survey of 218 Workplace Restaurants (>100,000 workers). 61% provide vegetarian meals. Dalepak March 1991 48% of the population eat both vegetarian and meat based meals. 26% of the population are are cutting down or only occasionally eating meat. Mintel - The Green Consumer April 1991 Survey of 1336 adults. 23% avoid "factory farmed food". MSI May 1991 The Vegetarian Food Market is worth 335 million. Mintel Healthy Eating July 1991 Survey of 1500 adults. 8% avoided meat or were vegetarian. Taylor Neilson August 1991 6.2% of sample claim to be vegetarian, but in a two week period half may eat fish, poultry or red meat. 44% of lunches contain no meat/poultry or fish. 50% of teas contain no meat/poultry or fish. Safeway August 1991 Survey of 2000 adults aged 16 plus There is a vegetarian in 7% of Households = 1.5 million households and over 3 million vegetarians, 63% of whom eat no meat or fish. 81% are vegetarian for moral reasons. 42% for health reasons. 32% "Don't like meat". 9% are vegetarian for medical reasons. 37% of vegetarians are under 35 yrs against 27% of the general population. Those living in the South of England are twice as likely to be vegetarian as those living in Scotland or the North of England. 64% of households with a vegetarian member had just the one. Mintel September 1991 Sales of Tofu, TVP and Quorn stand at 25 million pa, a 279% increase since the 1988 figure of 6.6 million. Mintel September 1991 Survey of 1100 adults. 10% avoid or have given up red meat. Mintel October 1991 10% of 15-19 year olds are vegetarian. Gardiner Merchant November 1991 10% of children in Wales and the South West claim to be vegetarian against 5% nationally. Food Attitudes Monitor December 1991 Statement: "I try to serve some vegetarian meals to my family". 16-44 year olds: 19% strongly agree, 34% strongly disagree. 45 years plus: 17% strongly agree, 42% strongly disagree. ABC1: 26% strongly agree, 28% strongly disagree. C2DE: 15% strongly agree, 44% strongly disagree. Miller Lite December 1991 Gallup poll of 18-35 year olds 14% of "southerners" are likely to be vegetarian. Heinz 1991 15% of home meals are vegetarian. Mintel 1991 Vegetarian products in the Ready Meals Market. 1988 = 4% of market, 1989 = 8% of market. British Market Research Bureau Target Group Index March 1991 to April 1992 Survey of 25,358 adults. 11.4% said their diet was "mainly vegetarian". By age: 15-17 year olds - 17.0%, 20-24 year olds - 12.9%, 25-34 year olds - 11.7%, 35-44 year olds 11.1%, 45-54 year olds - 10.3%, 55- 64 year olds - 9.3%, 65+ - 10.4%. By Social class: AB - 13.7%, C1 - 13.2%, C2 - 9.3%, D - 9.4%, E - 11.8%. By area: London - 13.3%, South - 10.7%, Anglia/Midlands - 11.9%, South West/Wales - 10.9%, Yorkshire/North East - 10.6%, North West - 10.5%, Scotland - 10.0%. Parental status: With children - 10.6%, No children - 12.1%. British Market Research Bureau January 1992 Survey of 5692 adults 1 in 9 responded their diets were "mainly vegetarian". 1 in 7 ABs responded their diets were "mainly vegetarian". National Consumer Council (MAFF sponsered) Jan 1992 MORI poll of 1,053 adults aged 15 years and over who had eaten out in the previous 6 month period. 4% claimed to be vegetarian 1% claimed to be vegan 16% avoided eating certain things due to Animal welfare/Vegetarian reasons. By Sex: Men 12%, Women 19% Class: AB 21%, C1 17%, C2 14%, DE 13%. Age: 15-24 18%, 25-39 19%, 40-59 15%, 60+ 11%. 35% felt that having a healthy diet was important to them. SAFE Alliance February 1992 Survey of 1002 adults. 51% responded yes to the following statement: "Do modern intensive farming methods harm Farm Animal Welfare in any way?". Supermarketing Magazine April 1992 Total Frozen Vegetarian Market - 72 million. Mintel September 1992 Survey of 2000 adults under 54 years. 10% of single people had a mainly vegetarian diet. 6% of non-single people had a mainly vegetarian diet. Dalepak September 1992 Vegetarian Burger & Grills market = 48 million. Showing a year on year growth of 60%. Frozen Ready Meals market = 20 million pounds. NOP September 1992 Survey of 1,010 adults aged 15 or over. 7% of female respondents were vegetarian. 4% of male respondents were vegetarian. 9% of respondents in the South were vegetarian. 4% of respondents in Midlands and North were vegetarian. 14% of Households had at least one member as vegetarian. 6% of Households had a child aged 13 or above vegetarian. 1% of Households had a child aged 12 or under a vegetarian. 14% of respondents aged 15 - 17 were vegetarian. 7% of respondents aged 18 - 34 were vegetarian. 5% of respondents aged 35 - 44 were vegetarian. 4% of respondents aged 55 plus were vegetarian. By Class 18% of AB, 16% of C1, 12% of C2 and 10% of DE Households contained at least one vegetarian. Of the meat eaters 18% were consciously trying to replace meat at home, and 7% when eating out. CARAT October 1992 Percentage of shoppers with a mainly vegetarian diet league table of supermarkets: 1) Sainsburys, 2) Safeway, 3) Gateway, 4) Tesco, 5) Asda. NOP November 1992 Survey of 1007 over 15 yr olds. Vegetarian Frozen Ready Meals were favourite type with 10% of sample. Healthy Eating Magazine 1992 A National Survey of 5000 16-17 year olds. Found 9% of Females and 1% of Males claiming to be vegetarian. Mintel 1992 Retail sales of "Meat Alternatives" reached 25.5 million pounds. Realeat Gallup Survey Jan 1993 A survey of 4299 over 16 year olds in Great Britain. 4.3% of population is vegetarian. 6.5% of population avoid red meat. 3.2% of male population is vegetarian. 5.4% of female population is vegetarian. 13.3% of 16-24 year old females are vegetarian. Cauldron Foods March 1993 Tofu market worth 3 million pa. Leatherhead Food RA March 1993 Gallup Omnibus survey of 1038 adults Sept 1992. An estimated 3% of the population are vegetarian (female 4%, male 2%). A further 3% do not eat meat but may eat fish and/or dairy products made with animal by- products (female 5%, male 1%). 33% of consumers are trying to reduce their meat consumption. Vegetarianism by age: 16-24 7% (inc 1% vegan), 25-34 3%, 35-44 2%, 45-64 4%, 65+ 1%. Vegetarianism by class: AB 4%, C1 3%, C2 3%, DE 3%. Vegetarianism by region: South 3%, Midlands 5%, North 2%. Vegetarian food market worth 7 billion in 1992. Sales of specialist vegetarian products such as ready meals, burgers and grills, Quorn and Soya products amounted to an estimated 308 million in 1992. The Daily Telegraph Gallup Poll May 1993. Survey (face to face) of 1019 people aged 15 to 19. 11% described themselves as vegetarian. 16% of females descibed themselves as vegetarian. 6% of males described themselves as vegetarian. 17% of the non vegetarians say they might give up meat at some time in the future. Frozen Food Information Service May 1993 "The 21st Century Report" estimates that over the next decade as many as one person in five may become vegetarian. Trent (Regional) Lifestyle Survey 1993 Survey of 7345 children aged 11 to 16. 12% of Girls claimed to be vegetarian. 4% of boys claimed to be vegetarian. Henley Centre Report for Asda 1993 Survey of 940 children aged 5 to 15. 4% were vegetarian. 11% of girls aged 13 - 15 were vegetarian. Healthy Birmingham 2000 survey Aug 1993 7% of women qustioned were vegetarain. 3% of men questioned were vegetarian. "Eat Up" survey 1993 250 10 - 15 year olds kept food diaries. It was found that 23% ate no meat. Mintel Report on Vegetarian & Organic Food Retail sales of "vegetarian food" were worth 11.2 billion in 1992. Retail sales of meat alternatives were worth 25.5 million in 1992, up from 6.6 million in 1988. (Quorn = 15 million, TVP = 6.5 million, Tofu = 4 million). The Frozen Food Information Service November 1993 Survey of 1500 13-14 year olds throughout the UK. Over 10% claimed to be vegetarian. Britons spent nearly 40 million pounds on frozen vegetarian products in 1993, such as vegetarian burgers, sausages, pizzas and ready meals - an increase of around 7% on the previous year. Summary of Realeat polls 1984 - 1993 Summary of Realeat polls 1984 - 1993 % of population '84 '85 '86 '87 '88 '90 '93 Vegetarians 2.1 2.6 2.7 3.0 3.0 3.7 4.3 Avoid Red Meat 1.9 2.6 3.1 3.6 5.5 6.3 6.5 Eating Less Meat 30 35 33 35 43 40 Male Vegetarians 1.6 2.0 3.2 Female Vegetarians 2.6 3.2 5.4 Vegetarian Students 11.0 10.6 South 3.4 3.7 4.5 4.5 Midlands 2.4 3.5 4.3 North 1.9 3.6 4.1 Scotland 2.3 2.2 1.4 3.7 Under 16 Veg/Meatfree 10.6 9.3 ___________________________________ // This article is copyright to the Vegetarian Society (UK), but may be freely copied for non-commercial use provided it is kept intact, not altered and these lines are included. For futher information contact: The Vegetarian Society, Parkdale, Dunham Road, Altrincham, Cheshire WA14 4QG, England. Tel: (England) 061 928 0793 email: vegsoc@vegsoc.demon.co.uk // [The text of this file was obtained from the Vegetarian Society (UK) in March 1995.]