English: Diets by age: Younger adults are less likely to eat meat

When we look at these survey results by age we see that younger people are more likely to identify as non- or only occasional meat-eaters. The breakdown of UK responses by age is shown in the chart.

One in five 18-to-24-year-olds described a diet that did not contain meat (but some of them do eat fish). 10% were vegetarian, 4% pescetarian, and 5% were vegan. A further 20% were flexitarian.

Contrast that with the oldest age group (the over-65s) where only a few percent were vegetarian, and a few percent pescetarian.

Again, this finding that younger adults are more likely to identify as vegetarian or vegan is consistent with results from other countries. Polls from the US and other countries find the same result. Averaged across the 28 countries included in the 2018 Ipsos survey, 6% of under-35s reported to be vegetarian, compared to 3% in the over-35s.

What is also striking is how quickly dietary preferences are changing amongst young people. In particular, we see a sharp rise in the share identifying as ‘flexitarian’ in only a few years. In mid-2019, 10% of young adults self-reported as flexitarian. In December 2021, this had doubled to 20%. The share identifying as frequent meat-eaters fell from two-thirds of young adults (67%) to just over half (52%).

From an environmental perspective, this is good news. Eating less meat is one of the most effective ways that someone can reduce their carbon footprint.