Image: Veganuary press kit.
Veganuary has announced that a record 25.8 million people around the world tried vegan this January, up from the 25 million the charity estimated for 2024.
The number comes from nationally representative surveys commissioned in 11 of the charity's core campaign countries, carried out by YouGov (and by Wakefield Research in the US) between January 14 and 29. Veganuary then applied the share of people who said they took part to each country's population. Its old yardstick, sign-ups to the 31-day email series, never counted the many people who join in without registering.
The campaign also grew its map again, adding official campaigns in Canada, Peru and Malaysia. There are now Veganuary campaigns in 20 countries, from the UK, US and Germany to Chile, India, Brazil and Singapore. Not bad for an idea that started on a kitchen table in Yorkshire in 2014.
Famous faces lined up behind it too, with Woody Harrelson, Pamela Anderson, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Ainsley Harriott and Levi Roots all backing this year's campaign. Veganuary ambassador Chris Packham even urged fellow TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson to take part for the sake of his heart health. [We're still waiting to hear how that went.]
Veganuary's Head of Communications said:
It is incredibly inspiring to see Veganuary's participation and influence continue to grow around the world. As people become more aware of the incredible impact our food choices have on the health of our planet, attitudes towards plant-based eating are changing everywhere and Veganuary's friendly, non-judgmental, just-give-it-a-go-for-a-month-and-see-what-you-think approach has undoubtedly played an instrumental role in this shift.
And the momentum doesn't stop on January 31. A new sister campaign, V-March, launches in China on March 1. It is run by China Vegan Society with help from Veganuary's global team, and is timed to fit around the Lunar New Year. More than 50 Chinese businesses have already committed to launching or promoting plant-based products for it.
Every one of those 25.8 million plates counts. The landmark Oxford University study published in PNAS found that a global move to vegan diets could save around 8 million lives a year by 2050 and slash food-related greenhouse gas emissions, with the benefits greater the fewer animal products we eat.
This is the latest record for a campaign that never seems to stop growing. Back in 2019 a record 250,000 people signed up for Veganuary, in 2021 it smashed its record with 582,000 sign-ups, and in 2023 official sign-ups passed 700,000 for the first time. Last year the charity's surveys suggested a record 25 million people took part worldwide. Google's Eric Schmidt predicted the plant-based revolution back in 2016, and it's getting harder to argue with him.
This is just the beginning.