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Pig Numbers, Pork Output Fall in Australia in 2008

The latest ABARE statistics show a decline in the Australian pig industry. The report has been summarised by Jackie Linden for ThePigSite.

15 January 2010

4 minute read

In its latest issue of Australian Commodity Statistics for 2009, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) documents a decline in the domestic pig industry in terms of animal numbers, production and per-capita consumption of pig meat.

Total pig numbers in 2008 stood at 2.411 million, a fall of 7.4 per cent compared to the previous year. There were 340,000 sows and gilts, 3.4 per cent fewer than in 2007.

There was a 9.5 per cent reduction in the number of pigs slaughtered during 2008 to 4.842 million. This, combined with a 300-gramme reduction in average carcass weight from 2007, brought the cut in total pig meat production for 2008 to 348,000 tonnes, which is almost 10 per cent below the previous year.

Imports of pig meat were up 7.4 per cent in 2008, while exports fell by nine per cent, widening the country's trade gap in pig meat.

Total consumption of pig meat in Australia in 2008 was 527,200 tonnes, a reduction of three per cent from 2007. Per-capita consumption fell by 1.2kg to 24.7kg in 2008.

In terms of animal numbers, New South Wales followed by Queensland are the leading pig-producing states in Australia.

Australian supply and use of pig meat
	Unit	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Pig numbers a	’000	2,511	2,748	2,940	2,658	2,548	2,708	2,733	2,605	2,411
Breeding sows and gilts a	’000	293	293	332	356	352	318	348	352	340 b
Slaughterings	’000	5,014	5,172	5,603	5,723	5,440	5,372	5,320	5,350	4,842
Average slaughter weight c	kg	72.7	73.2	72.7	73.2	72.6	72.7	71.9	72.2	71.9
Production c	'000 t	364.4	378.5	407.3	418.9	394.8	390.3	382.7	386.1	348.0
Imports cd	'000 t	72.6	65.2	92.6	112.0	127.1	162.3	169.0	218.4	234.5
Exports cd	'000 t	55.9	77.3	91.5	88.3	70.4	64.7	67.2	60.8	55.3
Total consumption ce	'000 t	381.1	366.5	408.4	442.6	451.6	488.0	484.4	543.7	527.2
Consumption per person cd	kg	19.8	18.8	20.7	22.1	22.3	23.8	23.4	25.9	24.7
a Livestock holdings on establishments with an estimated value of agricultural operations (EVAO) of $5 000. b Breeding sows only in 2008 c Carcass weight d Includes preserved pig meat e Apparent consumption Sources: ABS, Apparent Consumption of Foodstuffs, cat. no. 4306.0, Canberra; ABS, International Trade, Australia, cat. no. 5465.0, Canberra; ABS Principal Agricultural Commodities, Australia, Preliminary, cat. no. 7111.0, Canberra; ABS, Agriculture, Australia, cat. no. 7113.0, Canberra; ABS Agricultural Commodities, Australia, cat. no. 7121.0, Canberra; ABARE.

Australian pig numbers, by state and territory ^a ('000)
	New South Wales	Victoria	Queens- land	Western Australia	South Australia	Tasmania	Northern Territory	Australia
2000	778	521	621	277	406	22	2	2,511
2001	710	523	544	276	438	18	2	2,748
2002	845	557	597	286	438	22	2	2,940
2003	833	673	643	361	410	18	3	2,658
2004	729	555	663	381	309	19	3	2,548
2005	624	547	691	291	378	14	3	2,708
2006	781	559	711	284	358	13	2	2,733
2007	655	668	691	296	403	17	2	2,605
2008	741	463	695	326	360	19	na	2,411
2009	770	394	610	363	262	13	na	2,236 s
a At 31 March. From 2000, at 30 June. Livestock holdings on establishments with an estimated value of agricultural operations (EVAO) of $5 000 or more s ABARE estimate na Not available No data avialalbe for Australian Capital Territory Sources: ABS, Principal Agricultural Commodities, Australia, Preliminary, cat. no. 7111.0, Canberra; ABS, Agriculture, Australia, cat. no. 7113.0, Canberra; ABS, Agricultural Commodities, Australia, cat. no. 7121.0, Canberra. ABARE.