The price of meat in Dutch supermarkets rose 3.8% last year, the biggest increase since 2001, the national statistics office CBS said on Wednesday.

The increase is also the highest across the eurozone apart from in Slovakia, the CBS said. In neighbouring Belgium, for example, meat prices rose below 1% while in Germany they were up an average of 2%.

The biggest rise was for chicken and poultry, which became almost 5% more expensive. But meat eaters after rabbit or wild boar were in luck – they cost just 1.6% more over the year.

The CBS did not give an explanation for the price rise but did say that in 2001, when prices soared 10%, there was an outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

Last year, the poultry sector was hit by a major contamination scandal, which led to the slaughter of millions of chickens.

Consumption

People in the Netherlands ate an average of almost 77kg of meat in 2016, according to a report from Wageningen Economic Research last year.

A comparison of meat consumption across Europe from 2005 to 2016 suggests that in recent years, the Dutch had been consuming a lot less but that this trend has now levelled off, the research showed.

WRR, the scientific council that advises on government policy, has recommended reducing meat consumption, particularly of processed meat.