Vegan Food Market: Statistics, Trends, and Forecasts to 2035

Quick Answer

Global plant-based food sales reached approximately $28.6 billion in 2024, with multiple forecasts pointing to $40–$100+ billion by the early 2030s and plant-based products overperforming in ecommerce.

• Global retail sales of plant-based foods (meat, seafood, dairy alternatives, and other categories) reached $28.6 billion in 2024, a 5% increase vs 2023, according to analysis of The Good Food Institute’s State of the Industry data by The Food Institute and Green Queen.
• In 2024, non-dairy alternatives accounted for $22.4 billion, while plant-based meat analogues reached $6.1 billion, with regional sales of roughly $9.7 billion in Europe, $8.9 billion in Asia-Pacific, and $7.3 billion in North America, based on GFI’s Euromonitor data as reported by Green Queen.
• Global vegan food market forecasts include $39.8–$42.1 billion by 2032–2033 at 8.66–9.03% CAGR (IMARC Group), $46.09 billion by 2033 at 9.6% CAGR (Research and Markets), and $109.4 billion by 2032 at 12.4% CAGR (Meticulous Research), with additional projections from SkyQuest and Straits Research.
• In the United States, plant-based foods generated around $8.1 billion in retail sales in 2023, with $394 million in ecommerce sales, and achieved 6.8% share of online food sales vs 3.8% in brick-and-mortar grocery, based on data from the Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA) Marketplace and NielsenIQ.

Global vegan food market forecasts

Published forecasts indicate high-single-digit to low-double-digit annual growth through the early 2030s, but projected market values vary substantially by publisher.

$46.09 billion, projected global vegan food market value in 2033, according to Research and Markets.

The IMARC Group forecast places projected growth in the 8.66% to 9.03% CAGR range. Meticulous Research reports a higher projected CAGR of 12.4%, while Straits Research projects a 11.2% CAGR through 2034.

The Good Food Institute reports that the global plant-based food industry has grown at approximately 15% CAGR since 2019. Its modelling indicates that plant-based meat would require approximately 25% CAGR from 2023 onward to reach the low end of some external 2035 forecasts.

Market forecasts should not be combined into a single average. Differences in product coverage, channel inclusion, geographic scope, currency conversion and forecast methodology can produce materially different results.

Regional Markets and Country-Level Penetration

Asia-Pacific leads global plant-based milk sales, while Europe and North America remain major markets for plant-based meat, seafood, cheese, yogurt and ice cream.

More than two times, the approximate difference between Asia-Pacific and North American plant-based milk sales, according to The Good Food Institute, citing Euromonitor data.

Regional category patterns reported by The Good Food Institute include:

• Asia-Pacific is the leading region for plant-based milk sales, supported by traditional soy and plant-based beverages and newer alternative-milk products.
• Europe and North America are major regions for plant-based meat, seafood, cheese and ice cream.
• Europe is particularly strong in plant-based yogurt.
• European plant-based food companies raised approximately $584 million in 2023, an increase of 74% from 2022, according to The Good Food Institute.

Vegan diet prevalence by country

Self-reported vegan diet prevalence is generally between 2% and 4% across many major Western markets, while India reports the highest range in the supplied country data.

These figures measure self-reported vegan diet identity. They do not measure total plant-based product purchases, flexitarian behaviour or plant-forward diets.

European plant-based product penetration

Household purchasing of plant-based products is substantially broader than self-identification as vegan in the European markets covered by the Circana data.

The reported sales year for these figures is 2023, according to GFI Europe’s analysis of Circana retail data.

9.8%, plant-based milk’s reported share of total milk sales in Germany in 2023, according to GFI Europe.

Consumer Adoption, Price Premiums and Market Barriers

U.S. plant-based food purchasing is widespread, but plant-based meat sales are concentrated among a relatively small group of highly engaged households.

7% of U.S. households accounted for 82% of plant-based meat dollar sales in 2022, according to household-level analysis from The Good Food Institute.

Additional U.S. household metrics from The Good Food Institute include:

• 60% of U.S. households purchased plant-based foods in 2023.
• 81% of those purchasing households bought plant-based foods more than once during 2023.
• 15% of households purchased plant-based meat and seafood in 2023.
• Plant-based meat household penetration declined from 19% in 2022 to 15% in 2023.
• 21% of households purchased both conventional and plant-based meat in 2022.
• 0.5% purchased plant-based meat only in 2022.
• 79% purchased conventional meat only in 2022.
• The top-spending third of blended households allocated 33% of their meat budget to plant-based meat.
• Medium-engaged households allocated 7% of their meat budget to plant-based meat.
• Low-engaged households allocated 2% of their meat budget to plant-based meat.

The Good Food Institute estimates that the category could be approximately 70% larger in dollar terms if medium-engaged households increased their purchasing to the level of the top-engaged group. This is a modelled scenario, not an observed sales result.

Consumption frequency and motivations

Trial does not consistently translate into frequent repeat consumption, with taste, texture, price and familiarity remaining measurable barriers.

Reported motivations among repeat users were:

Among people who tried plant-based meat only once, 51% reported disliking the taste, 44% preferred animal meat, 34% disliked the texture and 21% considered the product too expensive, according to The Good Food Institute.

Among people who had never tried plant-based meat, 35% preferred animal meat, 29% did not expect it to taste good and 21% considered it too expensive. Approximately 50% of U.S. adults reported being not too familiar or not at all familiar with plant-based meat, while four in ten reported never having tried it, according to The Good Food Institute.

Retail price premiums

Price parity remains a measurable barrier to mainstream adoption of plant-based meat, milk and egg products.

77%, the average 2023 retail price premium for plant-based meat and seafood compared with conventional meat, according to The Good Food Institute.

Price comparisons should identify the product types, pack sizes, retail channels and measurement period. Category averages do not predict the premium for an individual brand or stock-keeping unit.

Ecommerce, Search Demand and User Experience Benchmarks

Plant-based foods achieved a higher share of online food sales than brick-and-mortar grocery sales in the United States in 2023.

6.8%, plant-based foods’ share of online food sales in the United States in 2023, compared with 3.8% in brick-and-mortar grocery, according to PBFA marketplace data, and NielsenIQ.

Online sales were particularly strong in categories including creamers, ready-to-drink beverages, protein powders and liquid products, according to the Plant Based Foods Association.

Social commerce and checkout performance

Digital demand does not remove conversion friction, with global cart abandonment remaining approximately 70%.

70.22%, the average global online shopping cart abandonment rate across 50 studies, according to the Baymard Institute.

The Baymard Institute estimates that checkout improvements could raise average ecommerce conversion by 35% and identifies approximately $260 billion in potentially recoverable orders across the United States and European Union. These figures apply to ecommerce broadly, not specifically to vegan food retailers.

Digital merchandising considerations

The supplied Good Food Institute analysis reports that 55% of flexitarians purchased plant-based meat during the previous year, compared with 28% of omnivores. This is a consumer-segment comparison, not a category-wide conversion rate.

Global Vegan and Plant-Based Food Market Size and Growth (2019–2024)

Global plant-based retail sales grew to approximately $28.6 billion in 2024, up 5% from 2023, with non-dairy alternatives driving most of the value.

Global sales of plant-based foods reached $28.6 billion in 2024, according to The Good Food Institute’s State of the Industry data as summarised by The Food Institute and Green Queen. Non-dairy alternatives accounted for roughly $22.4 billion of this total, while plant-based meat analogues reached around $6.1 billion, with regional sales estimated at $9.7 billion in Europe, $8.9 billion in Asia-Pacific, and $7.3 billion in North America.

Earlier GFI/Euromonitor data showed global plant-based retail sales at $21.6 billion in 2019 and $29 billion in 2023, highlighting strong multi-year growth even as category mix and regional performance evolve over time, as reported in the 2023 State of the Industry – Plant-based meat, seafood, eggs, and dairy.

The reported total increased from $21.6 billion in 2019 to $29 billion in 2023, an increase of approximately 34%. Global plant-based meat volume reached approximately 656,000 metric tons in 2023, compared with roughly 410 million metric tons of conventional meat, according to the same Good Food Institute industry analysis.

Data Limitations and Context

Market size, diet prevalence, household penetration, product market share and ecommerce performance measure different forms of adoption and should not be combined into a single market estimate.

• Market forecasts describe projected revenue under a publisher-specific definition of vegan or plant-based food.
• Diet prevalence measures self-identification, not purchasing frequency or retail value.
• Household penetration measures whether a household purchased a category during a stated period.
• Market share compares a product category with a defined total market, such as all milk sales.
• Survey responses describe reported attitudes or behaviour and may not equal observed sales.
• Retail sales, foodservice sales, ecommerce sales and household purchasing are separate measurements.
• Ranges reflect the precision available in the underlying source data and should not be converted into point estimates.
• Forecast values are not historical sales and should not be presented as observed market size.

Several sources use overlapping terminology. “Vegan food” may refer to products formulated without animal-derived ingredients, while “plant-based food” may include vegan products, vegetarian products and plant-forward alternatives. The precise inclusion of beverages, foodservice, supplements, private-label products and ecommerce varies by publisher.

The country prevalence figures measure dietary identity. The European penetration figures measure product purchasing, and therefore represent different consumer behaviours.

Methodology and Definitions

For comparisons, preserve the original year, geography, currency, channel, category definition and measurement type. A global market forecast should not be compared directly with a national retail dataset, and a self-reported diet figure should not be treated as a household purchasing rate.

Frequently Asked Questions – Plant-Based Food Market

1. What is the current global size of the plant-based food market?

Global retail sales of plant-based foods reached $28.6 billion in 2024, a 5% increase vs 2023, according to analysis of The Good Food Institute’s State of the Industry data by The Food Institute and Green Queen. Earlier GFI/Euromonitor data placed global sales at $29 billion in 2023 and $21.6 billion in 2019, showing strong multi-year growth.

2. How fast is the vegan food market expected to grow through 2035?

Published forecasts generally show high single-digit to low double-digit annual growth. For example, IMARC Group projects about $40–$42 billion by 2032–2033, Research and Markets forecasts $46.09 billion by 2033, and Meticulous Research expects $109.4 billion by 2032. Other reports from SkyQuest and Straits Research land between these ranges.

3. Which regions lead the plant-based food market?

The Good Food Institute’s Euromonitor-based analysis shows Asia-Pacific as the largest region for plant-based milk, with more than twice the plant-based milk sales of North America in recent years (GFI 2023 State of the Industry). Europe and North America are leading regions for plant-based meat, seafood, yogurt, cheese, and ice cream. In Europe specifically, plant-based food and drink across key countries reached about €16.3 billion and 2.4% of FMCG sales, according to Circana.

4. How common is a vegan diet, and how does that compare with plant-based product penetration?

Self-reported vegan diet prevalence is usually in the low single digits, with Statista and the Vegan Society (via Green Queen) reporting 2–4% vegan in markets like Germany, the US, UK, Brazil, China, and Mexico, and around 3% in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. India stands out with roughly 10–14% vegan and 26% vegetarian in some surveys. In contrast, household penetration for plant-based products is far higher: about 60% of U.S. households bought plant-based foods in 2023, and 37% of German and 33% of UK households bought plant-based meat at least once (GFI Europe).

5. How much more expensive are plant-based products than conventional ones?

GFI’s 2023 pricing analysis shows substantial average U.S. retail price premiums: plant-based meat and seafood are about 77% more expensive than conventional meat, plant-based milk about 104% more expensive, and plant-based eggs about 317% more expensive (GFI 2023 State of the Industry). These are category averages, so actual premiums vary by brand, product, and channel.

6. What share of U.S. online food sales is plant-based?

Plant-based foods over-index in ecommerce compared with grocery. In 2023, U.S. plant-based ecommerce sales were about $394 million, representing 6.8% of online food sales versus 3.8% of brick-and-mortar grocery food sales, based on data from the Plant Based Foods Association Marketplace and NielsenIQ. Total U.S. retail plant-based food sales were roughly $8.1 billion, with 79% cumulative dollar-sales growth between 2018 and 2023.

7. What are the main barriers and motivations for plant-based meat adoption?

U.S. survey data from GFI show that many trial users do not become frequent buyers: among people who tried plant-based meat only once, 51% didn’t like the taste, 44% preferred animal meat, 34% disliked the texture, and 21% considered it too expensive (GFI 2023 State of the Industry). Among repeat consumers, key motivations include health (37% say it’s healthy; 21% cite protein), taste and texture (23% like the taste; 19% like the texture), and ethical/environmental reasons (19% mention avoiding animal harm and 19% cite environmental benefits.