The pig population decreased by 1.8% (-375,000 heads) to 20.9 million over the same period, and by 1.2% (-256,900) on an annual basis. Over the past decade, the number of pigs in Germany has fallen by a quarter (-7.2 million), but the number of farms has fallen faster, so the average farm size has increased from 1,100 to almost 1,400 heads.
- There are 9.4 million fattening pigs left (-0.7% y/y).
- There are 10.1 million piglets and replacement young stock (-1.6% y/y).
- There were slightly less than 1.4 million breeding sows (-1.3% y/y).
A similar decline was observed in cattle. As of 3 May 2025, there were 10.3 million head of cattle in Germany (-1.2% in six months, -2.7% in a year). The number of dairy cows remained almost at the November level (-0.3%), but fell by 2.5% to 3.6 million over the year.
The number of farms with dairy cows decreased to 47,700 (-1.9% in six months, -3.5% in a year) and has decreased by more than a third (-36.2%) in ten years.
Thus, the trend towards farm consolidation and a reduction in livestock numbers in German pig and cattle farming has continued for a decade.
PigUA.info based on materials from euromeatnews.com