Eurostat: Livestock population continues to fall across EU

Livestock populations are continuing to decrease across the EU, according to the latest data from Eurostat.

The data showed that there are 132 million pigs, 72 million bovine animals (cow, bulls, etc.), 27 million sheep, and 10 million goats in the EU.

When these numbers are compared with Eurostat's 2023 livestock figures, all livestock populations have once again declined.

According to the data, the population of bovines reduced the most in terms of percentage, experiencing a decrease of 2.8%.

Sheep and goats underwent significant reductions also, with declines of 1.7% and 1.6% respectively.

The population of pigs went through the smallest decline, with numbers down by 0.5%.

These reductions appear to be following a long-term trend across the EU, with Eurostat recording annual reductions since 2014.

When comparing livestock populations between 2024 and 2014, goats have experienced the most significant decrease, with the population has fallen by 16.3%.

The sheep population has also underwent major reductions, with the population falling by 9.4%.

Bovine animals are 8.7% lower in population while pigs are down 8.1% when compared to 2014.

Source: Eurostat
Source: Eurostat

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) latest figures have shown a similar trend for solely Ireland over the past year.

According to the CSO, 770,000 head of cattle were slaughtered between January and May 2025, which is a decrease of 1.6% when compared to the same period of 2024.

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This May, 135,000 head of cattle were slaughtered, according to CSO figures, which is a decrease of almost 16,000 in comparison to last May 2024.

When comparing 2024 and 2025, sheep slaughters decreased from by 13.2% for May or 16.4% for the first five months of this year.

For pigs, the numbers slaughtered decreased by 0.8% when comparing May 2024 to May 2025, and decreased 1.6% when comparing January to May 2024 with the same period in2025.

Carcass weights also decreased in these time frames for cattle and sheep, while pigs underwent a marginal increase.

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