Lamb Prices Surge in France Ahead of Eid al-Adha Celebration

The price of lamb increased before Easter. The French weighted average price provided by FranceAgriMer exceeded €11/kg carcass, reaching €11.04/kg carcass during the week of April 14 to 18, which is €0.12/kg net more than the previous week and €1.48/kg net more than in 2024, during the week preceding the religious holiday, according to La France Agricole.

"Demand has been quite dynamic among French slaughterhouses," explains Cassandre Matras from the Institut de l’élevage. "However, given the mortality caused by bluetongue in the second half of 2024, many expected a sharp decline in supply. The industry has nevertheless managed to organize itself to provide sufficient goods for this event." Unless supply increases, the price of lamb will rise before and during Eid al-Adha, the festival of sacrifice.

The competent authorities seem to be working to ensure a wide supply. The peak of slaughtering in week 15 (April 7 to 11, 2025) even exceeded those of equivalent weeks in 2023 and 2024, according to Ovinfos data provided by Interbev. "The slaughtered volumes have, however, declined more sharply afterwards," observes Cassandre Matras.

France is also relying on Spanish imports of sheep meat. The increase in these imports even reached 50% in the first two months of the year compared to 2024, it is specified. "And they could continue, as Spain recently lost a large delivery to Morocco following the cancellation of the festival of sacrifice," Matras believes. She adds: "As Morocco and Algeria aim to strengthen their autonomy by increasing their domestic production through the purchase of breeding stock in Australia, as long as the law still allows it (2027), Iberian goods could continue to flow into the European market."