Russia is a very poor performer (“F”) under the VACI, on par with Brazil and Iran. The country has a high animal slaughter rate, large consumption of animal products and inadequate legislative protection of farmed animals.
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Russia slaughters around 18.2 land-based animals per person per year, compared with a global average of 10.1. Russia is investing heavily in the livestock sector, and is aiming to achieve self-sufficiency in dairy production. However, the country’s dependence on farmed animals is still moderate, with around 4.2 farmed animals per person versus a global average of 4.1. Intensive factory farming is actively promoted.
The Russian diet contains a relatively high proportion of animal products, with around 52% of the average person’s diet consisting of land-based animal protein compared with a global average of 35.2%. Each person consumes around 49.2g of land-based animal protein per day versus a global average of 27.2g. Only 1% of Russians are vegetarian.
Russia is rated as a marginal performer (“D”) under the Animal Protection Index (API), and its farmed animal protection legislation achieved the worst performance rating (“G”) under the same index. Russia’s animal protection legislation does not define the meaning of ‘cruelty’, and excludes farmed animals from its application. Learn more about the quality of Russia’s legislative protections on the API here.