Iran's agriculture minister says meat and chicken prices are at equilibrium and any lower would put producers at a loss

Gholamreza Nouri, Iran's minister of agriculture, said on Thursday, 30 July 2026 (8 Mordad 1405), at the second specialist livestock, poultry and dairy industries exhibition in Tehran that meat and chicken are being supplied at equilibrium prices in the market, and that at any price below that level producers would make a loss because their production costs are high.

He said data from the Statistical Centre show that food carried 2.5 percent inflation last month, the lowest rate among essential goods. In the market, red meat is selling in the region of 1,700,000 tomans a kilogram and chicken meat at 300,000 tomans. Meat and chicken prices have risen particularly since the removal of the preferential exchange rate over the past two years.

Producers have cited a fivefold increase in the price of inputs as the reason for the rise. According to unofficial figures referred to in the same report, per capita meat consumption has fallen from 12 to 6 kilograms.