Sydney, (IANS) : Australians spend a whopping $282 billion a week on meat consumption, a new survey revealed on Monday.

The Australian arm of German supermarket giant Aldi who commissioned the survey said on average the Australian household spent some $34 to cook about four-and-half of meat meals per week, Xinhua news agency reported.

The survey found that on an overall basis, 47 per cent of Australians preferred chicken the most while people living in New South Wales favoured lamb over any other meat.

Western Australians had a greater taste for pork than anywhere else in the country while those living in the Australian Capital Territory were deemed as the biggest meat eaters, with an average consumption of about five or more meat-based meals per week.

Meat and Livestock Australia chief marketing and communications officer Lisa Sharp told Fairfax Media that Australia was known globally as the world’s largest meat consuming nation.

“Despite rising prices for the meat in the last decade, Australians are still prepared to spend more for red meat,” she said.

She added that the value of the Australian beef industry had increased from approximately $3 billion to $5 billion to date.

“At the retail level, the value share of beef sales (as a percentage of total meat sales) has remained solid, averaging between 36 per cent to 40 per cent over the past five years, whereas chicken’s value share has averaged between 24 percent to 26 per cent of total meat retail sales,” Sharp said.

An Aldi spokesperson said the results showed Australians were “looking for better value (and) wanting to squeeze more meat into their weekly grocery budget without having to compromise on quality.”

“We know Australians love their beef and lamb, they have been staples on the dinner table for decades,” the spokesperson added.