Record 250,000 People Sign Up for Veganuary, More Than the Previous Four Years Combined

A record 250,000 people around the world signed up to try vegan this January. That's more than took part in the previous four years of Veganuary combined.

The UK charity has run the campaign every January since 2014, and it says this was its most successful year by far. Veganuary launched in 13 new countries this year, with sign-ups pouring in from Chile, Brazil, Malaysia, Japan, Russia and South Africa. On the last Sunday of 2018 alone, 14,000 people signed up.

And that's only the official count. Thousands more are thought to have taken part without signing the pledge on the website.

Rich Hardy, Veganuary's head of campaigns, said:

With a quarter of a million participants this year, Veganuary is finishing on an all-time high. Vegan living is growing; it's here to stay, it's part of the national conversation and it has credibility. That's great news for people, animals and the planet.

Hardy believes veganism has now reached "critical mass". Six out of every ten people who pledged to go vegan for the month say they plan to stick with it.

It's been quite a month. Greggs' new vegan sausage roll sold out in shops on launch day, supermarkets including Iceland, M&S and Sainsbury's filled their shelves with new plant-based lines, and Veganuary is now challenging Pope Francis to go vegan for Lent, with a $1 million donation to the charity of his choice on the table. Your move, Your Holiness.

In its own announcement today, Veganuary says this single campaign matched the total number of pledges from its previous four years put together, taking the all-time total past half a million.

Whatever brought people to Veganuary, they're in good company. Oxford University research published in PNAS found that a global switch to vegan eating would save more than 8 million lives by 2050 and cut food-related emissions by 66%. And if you're worried about protein, research shows plant protein builds muscle just as well as animal protein.

This month The Economist named 2019 the year of the vegan, 37 scientists told the world to halve red meat, and Canada dropped the dairy group from its food guide. It follows news that veganism has surged to 7% of the UK population and that Google searches for "vegan" have never been higher.

January is over. The vegan bit doesn't have to be.