Compared to December 2021:
The total number of cattle dropped by 97,500 (-1.5%) to 6,551,800.
Cattle male: under 1 year decreased by 81,700 (-8.1%).
Pig numbers fell by 8.4% to 1,570,400.
Breeding pigs declined by 12.6% to 127,500.
The provisional estimate for the total number of sheep was 4,029,100, a rise of 2,800 (+0.1%).
| X-axis label | Percentage Change |
|---|---|
| Total Cattle | -1.5 |
| Total Pigs | -8.4 |
| Total Sheep | 0.1 |
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Statistician's Comment
Commenting on the release, Donal Kelly, Senior Statistician in the Agriculture Section of the CSO, said:
"While the total number of cattle dropped by 1.5% in December 2022 compared to the same period last year, the number of dairy cows rose slightly to 1.51 million (+0.3%). The number of Other cows fell by 27,900 (-3.1%). The total number of cattle aged 1-2 years grew by 34,500 (+2.0%) while cattle aged 2 years and over (excluding cows and bulls) rose by 5,200 (+1.6%).
The total number of pigs fell by 8.4% in December 2022 to 1.57 million, its lowest level since 2016. The numbers of both breeding pigs and non-breeding pigs dropped by 12.6% and 8.0% respectively with the largest drop in the 'non-breeding pigs less than 20 kg' category (-63,800). The number of breeding pigs in the country (127,500) is now at its lowest level since December 1988.
The provisional figures for the total number of sheep show a slight increase of 2,800 (0.1%) compared to December 2021. The number of breeding sheep was down by 43,500 (-1.6%) while the number of other sheep increased by 46,300 (+3.7%)."