UK diet trends 2021

In 2021, more and more Brits are following a meat-free diet, which means they’ve chosen to become vegetarian, pescatarian or vegan.

With various food subscription services and brands now catering to plant-based lifestyles, adopting a meat-free diet has now become much easier and accessible for Brits too. We carried out our annual survey of 2,000 adults to investigate the diet habits and intentions of UK residents this year, and have analysed the cost of each option as well.

Quick overview

• Currently, around 14% of adults (7.2 million) in the UK are following a meat-free diet
• A further 12% (6.5 million) of the population intend to become vegetarian, vegan or pescatarian in 2021
• Almost 500,000 Brits gave up meat in 2020
• The number of those who gave up meat in 2020 was double that of 2019’s figures
• People following veganism increased by 40% in 2020
• Younger generations are significantly more likely to follow a meat-free diet, with a fifth of Gen Z already doing so (20%) and a further 26% planning to adopt one in 2021.

The UK’s current diet

According to our survey, 86% of the population currently eat meat in their diets. This means that around 7.2 million British adults (14%) currently follow a meat-free diet.

How many vegetarians are there in the UK?
With around 3.1 million people in the UK (6%), the vegetarian diet is currently the most common of the non-meat diets.

How many pescatarians are there in the UK?
The next most popular meat-free diet at this moment in time is the pescatarian diet, with around 2.5 million Brits (5%) opting for this diet.

How many vegans are there in the UK?
Lastly, there are around 1.5 million people in the UK who are currently vegan. A number which is growing rapidly.

• Current diet
• Table

How the UK’s diet has changed over the last 12 months

While the number of vegetarians and pescatarians has remained very similar to last year, Finder’s research estimates that the number of vegans in the UK has increased by 445,428 people (40%) over the past 12 months.

However, overall it seems that not many were able to stick to their diet over the past year. Of those who said they would cut out meat by the end of 2020, only 9% (500,000) managed to stick to their new diet.

The UK’s dietary intentions by the end of 2021

Numbers are certainly rising for those adopting a meat-free lifestyle. Combined with those who already follow a meat-free diet, there could be 13 million Brits (26%) who are vegetarian, vegan or pescatarian by the end of this year. If those who plan to ditch the meat actually follow through with their plans, around 1 in 10 people in the UK (11%) will be following a vegetarian diet, 8% will follow a pescatarian diet and 7% will be following a vegan diet.

• Intentions by the end of 2021
• Table

Diet changes over 2021

The diet that will have the most new recruits in 2021 looks to be vegetarianism, as 2.8 million intend to take up this lifestyle.

The biggest change statistically though will be veganism. If the 2 million people who intend to become vegan this year actually do so, the number of vegans will increase by 132%.

The amount of people intending to adopt a pescatarian diet is set to increase the least, both number and percentage-wise, with 1.7 million Brits wanting to change to this particular diet.

Which generations are ditching the meat?

Our studies show that those aged 18 to 23 (generation Z) are currently the most meat-free generation. 20% of generation Z said that they currently go without meat by following a pescatarian, vegetarian or vegan diet. This is a slight increase from last year’s most meat-free generation, millennials (24-42), of which 19% had adopted either a pescatarian, vegetarian or vegan diet.

Generation Z is also leading the way for those intending to adopt a meat-free lifestyle in 2021, with over 25% planning to ditch the meat in this new year.

Only 8% of the silent generation are currently meat-free and only a further 4% plan to go meat-free in 2021, making them the least veggie generation.

• Generations ditching meat in 2021
• Table

Are there gender differences when it comes to diet?

The survey found that there are currently 262,000 more men than women who don’t consume meat (7.2 million vs 7 million). Similarly, more men than women are planning to go meat-free this year (13% vs 11%). If those who intend to go meat-free stick to their plans in 2021, there will be almost 1.2 million more men than women adopting a meat-free lifestyle this year.

• Genders going meat-free
• Table

The cost of each diet

Many people embark on a new diet for health and lifestyle reasons but often forget to think through the financial implications of the change. The reality is that what you eat can have a direct impact on your wallet.

It’s good news for vegetarians, who have a diet that’s 26% cheaper than a meat-inclusive one. This means they can save an extra £457 every year. It’s not so great for vegans, who have the most expensive diet overall, coming in at £2,073 annually. Interestingly, a pescatarian diet is only £29 cheaper per year than a diet that also includes meat.

• Cost of each diet per person per year
• Table

When you look at the costs on a national scale, you can see the huge financial impact of changing consumer trends. If everyone followed through with their dietary plans in 2021, Brits would spend a total of £7.4 billion on vegan diets, £8.1 billion on pescatarian diets and £9.2 billion on vegetarian diets over a year.

• Previous research: UK's diet trends 2020

  The UK’s current diet and how it has changed over the past 12 months

  According to the survey, 87% of the population currently eat meat in their diets. Of the non-meat diets, the vegetarian diet is the most common (7%), followed by the pescatarian diet (4%) and then the vegan diet (2%). This means around 6.7 million British adults currently follow a meat-free diet.

  While the number of vegetarians and pescatarians has remained very similar to last year, Finder’s research estimates that the number of vegans in the UK increased by 419,000 (62%) over the past 12 months.

  However, overall it seems not many were able to stick to their diet over the past year. Of those who said they would cut out meat by the end of 2019, only 5% (236,000) have managed to stick to their new diet.

  The UK’s current diet

  • Current diet
  • Table

  Diet	Percent
  Total vegetarian	6.55%
  Total pescatarian	4.10%
  Total vegan	2.10%
  Total meat free	12.75%
  Not following any diet	87.25%

  The UK’s diet intentions by the end of 2020

  Despite the relatively low numbers of non-meat eaters in the population remaining the same, many others intend to change their diets over 2020. 12 million Brits (23%) say they will follow a vegetarian, vegan or pescatarian diet by the end of this year. If these people follow through with their plans, around 1 in 10 (11%) will be following a vegetarian diet, 7% will follow a pescatarian diet and 4% will be following a vegan diet.

  • Intentions
  • Table

  Diet in 2020	Percent
  Total vegetarian	11.35%
  Total pescatarian	7.35%
  Total vegan	4.15%
  Total meat free	22.85%
  No diet intentions	77.15%

  Specific diet changes over 2020

  The diet that will have the most new recruits in 2020 looks set to be vegetarianism, as 2.5 million intend to take up this lifestyle.

  The biggest change statistically though is veganism. If the 1 million people who intend to become vegan this year actually do so, this would be an increase of 98% compared to last year.

  Pescatarianism is set to grow by 80%, while there will be a significant decrease in the number of meat eaters, with 5.2 million giving it up this year, which is an 11% reduction.

  Type of diet	Current population	People who intend to follow this diet	Population by end of 2020	% change
  No-specific diet	45,721,918	-5,292,738	40,429,180	-11.60%
  Vegan	1,100,470	1,074,269	2,174,739	97.60%
  Vegetarian	3,432,419	2,515,361	5,947,780	73.30%
  Pescatarian	2,148,537	1,703,109	3,851,646	79.30%

  Which generations are ditching the meat?

  Millennials are the most meat-free generation at the moment – 15% of this generation said that they currently go without meat by following a pescatarian, vegetarian or vegan diet. However, by 2021, gen Z will have overtaken millennials, with 35% of gen Z being meat-free compared to 32% of millennials.

  Only 9% of the silent generation are currently meat-free and a further 3% plan to go meat-free by 2021, making them the least veggie generation.

  • Generations ditching meat
  • Table

  Generation	Percent ditching meat
  Postmillennial	13.89%
  Millennials	14.74%
  Generation X	13.79%
  Boomers	10.57%
  Silent generation	8.86%

  Are there gender differences when it comes to diets?

  The survey found there are currently 230,000 more females than males who don’t consume meat (3.9 million vs 3.7 million). However, more men than women are planning to go meat-free this year (11% vs 9%).

  • Women and men
  • Table

  Intention	Female	Male
  Planning to go meat free	8.84%	11.44%
  Already meat free	14.57%	10.82%

  Cost of each diet

  Many people embark on a new diet for health and lifestyle reasons and often forget to think through the financial implications of the change. The reality is that what you eat can have a direct impact on your wallet.

  It’s good news for vegetarians, who have a diet that’s 26% cheaper than a meat-inclusive one, meaning they can pocket an extra £457 every year. It’s not so great for vegans, who have the most expensive diet overall, coming in at £2,073 annually. Interestingly, a pescatarian diet is £29 cheaper than a diet that also includes meat.

  Yearly cost of each diet per person

  • Diet costs
  • Table

  Diet	Cost per year
  Vegan diet	£2,073
  Diet that includes meat	£2,002
  Pescatarian diet	£1,973
  Vegetarian diet	£1,545

  When you look at the costs on a national scale you can see the huge financial impact of changing consumer trends. If everyone followed through with their dietary plans in 2019, Brits would spend a total of £4.5 billion on vegan diets, £7.6 billion on pescatarian diets and £9.2 billion on vegetarian diets over a year.

• Previous research: UK's diet trends 2019

  UK’s diet trends 2019

  The UK’s current diet vs UK diet intentions by the end of 2019

  According to the survey, 88% of the population currently eat meat in their diets. Of the non-meat diets, the vegetarian diet is the most common (7%), followed by the pescatarian diet (4%) and then the vegan diet (1%). This means around 6.5 million British adults are currently eating meat-free.

  The UK’s current diet

  • Current diet
  • Table

  Diet	Percentage
  Already a Vegetarian	6.90%
  Already a Pescatarian	4.10%
  Already a Vegan	1.30%
  Aren't following a specific diet	87.70%

  The UK’s diet intentions by the end of 2019

  Despite the relatively low numbers of non-meat eaters currently, many intend to change their diets over 2019. Almost 12 million Brits (22%) say they will follow a vegetarian, vegan or pescatarian diet by the end of this year. If these people follow through with their plans, around 10% will be following a vegetarian diet, 7% will follow a pescatarian diet and 6% will be following a vegan diet.

  • Intentions
  • Table

  Intention	Percentage
  Already/Intend to be Vegetarian	9.90%
  Already/Intend to be Pescatarian	6.85%
  Already/Intend to be Vegan	5.55%
  Aren't/ Don't intend to follow a specific diet	77.70%

  Diet changes

  The diet that will have the most new recruits in 2019 looks set to be veganism, as 2.2 million intend to take up this lifestyle. This would see the total number of vegans increase by a remarkable 327%, to a total of 2.9 million people.

  Type of diet	Current population	Intend to start diet by end of 2019	Population by end of 2019	% change
  No-specific diet	45,957,733	-5,240,334	40,717,398	-11%
  Vegan	681,243	2,227,142	2,908,386	327%
  Vegetarian	3,615,831	1,572,100	5,187,931	43%
  Pescatarian	2,148,537	1,441,092	3,589,629	67%

  Despite the potentially huge increase of vegans, vegetarianism remains the most popular of the major diets. It already has 3.6 million followers and an additional 1.5 million people are looking to ditch the steak in favour of greener pastures in 2019. This would bring the total vegetarian population up to 5.2 million.

  Aspiring pescatarians are also on the rise. In fact, the pescatarian diet is likely to see numbers increase by a whopping 67 percent this year, bringing the total number of pescatarians to 3.6 million.

  When you look at the costs on a national scale you can see the huge financial impact of changing consumer trends. If everyone followed through with their dietary plans in 2019, Brits would spend an additional £4.6bn on vegan diets, £2.8bn on pescatarian diets and £2.4bn on vegetarian diets over a year. This would equal a shift of £9.9bn from omnivore diets to meat-free ones.

  UK total yearly cost of each diet

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  Which generations are ditching the meat?

  Generationally, the percentage of people who eat meat, and don’t currently intend to change, increases with age. While 94 percent of those in the silent generation (born before 1945) and 86 percent of baby boomers eat meat, this figure drops to under two thirds (63%) for post-millennials (born after 1996).

  • Diet costs total
  • Table

  Generation	Percentage of meat eaters
  Silent (Born 1928-1945)	94%
  Boomers (Born 1946-1964)	86%
  Generation X (Born 1965-1980)	74%
  Millennials (Born 1981-1996)	71%
  Postmillennial/Generation Z (Born after 1996)	63%

  Which regions of the UK are ditching the meat?

  London (30%) and the North East (30%) of the UK see the highest proportion of residents either currently or intending to be meat-free by 2019. The survey suggests that three in every ten people in these locations will be meat-free by the end of the year. In contrast, East Anglia sees the lowest percentage of meat-free dieters, with only 13% of residents taking part in vegetarian, vegan or pescatarian diet.

  • Diet costs total
  • Table

  Region	Percentage
  East of England	13%
  East Midlands	18%
  London	30%
  North East	30%
  North West	22%
  Northern Ireland	24%
  Scotland	20%
  South East	22%
  South West	19%
  Wales	24%
  West Midlands	24%
  Yorshire and the Humber	19%

  UK total yearly cost of each diet

  Year	Vegetarian	Pescetarian	Vegan	Non-specific
  November 2018	5,600,000,000	4,200,000,000	1,400,000,000	92,000,000,000
  November 2019	8,000,000,000	7,100,000,000	6,000,000,000	81,500,000,000

Click here for more research. For all media enquiries, please contact:

Matt Mckenna
UK communications managerT: +44 20 8191 8806

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