Recent trends show that a vegetarian diet is continuing to become more popular, with many choosing the diet for environmental as well as dietary reasons.

An estimated three per cent of people in western countries are now thought to be vegetarian, and campaigns such Meat Free Monday, led by Stella and Paul McCartney, are highlighting the potential environmental benefits of avoiding meat.

There are still, however, many countries which have very few vegetarian foods on offer, for a variety of cultural, religious and historical reasons.

To mark the occasion of World Vegetarian Day on Friday, cheap flights site Skyscanner has taken a look at some of the top places for vegetarian food lovers, as well as at some more extreme meaty destinations.

Belgium

Last year the city of Ghent in Belgium became the world’s first to host a weekly ‘veggie day’, shunning the traditional fish and shellfish the town is famous for. Every restaurant in the town now features at least one vegetarian dish every Thursday, with schools also following suit.

Taiwan

There an amazing 6,000 vegetarian eating establishments in Taiwan, which is thought to have some of the world’s toughest food labelling laws as a result of the high proportion of vegetarians (10 per cent) and also due to Buddhist law.

Turkey

Turkish food, often served in a delicious mezze platter containing several dishes, flatbreads and a variety of dips, is ideal for the vegetarian diet. Many of the traditional foods of the Ottoman Empire, are a fusion of Middle Eastern, Balkan and Asian influence.

Places popular for meat:

Scotland

Scotland’s most famous dish, haggis, is notorious – traditionally cased in sheep’s bladder, haggis is made from sheep’s heart, liver and lungs and is particularly popular across the country on Burn’s Night on January 25.

South Korea

Eating dog is illegal in South Korea – apart from on one day per year. On August 17, each year, groups of South Koreans, mainly older men, tuck into dog as part of a celebration of the date which is known as Malibok in the Korean lunar calendar.

Spain

It is said that the Franco Regime of 1939-1975 strongly discouraged vegetarianism and associated it with the political left. Perhaps as a result, much of Spain’s food is strongly meat-based, with pig in particular a firm favourite in many tapas dishes.