UK/EU Pig Populations - June 2009

The figures for the November/December 2008 census of pig numbers in EU countries are not yet complete but the latest available figures are tabulated by Jackie Linden, editor of ThePigSite.

25 June 2009

3 minute read

The latest report from the UK's Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) was published at the end of June 2009, and the data is shown in the table below. Not all the data are yet available from the pig census scheduled to be carried out in all EU countries in November/December 2008.

For further detail and comment on the 2008 figures, click here to go to our previous report. The only changes from the data published in April this year are for Germany: the figures for its May/June 2008 census have been revised downwards by 78,000 pigs in total and by 10,000 sows.

Pig populations in the European Union, 2008 (thousand head)
	April		May/June		August		November/ December (p)
	Total pigs	Breeding sows	Total pigs	Breeding sows	Total pigs	Breeding sows	Total pigs	Breeding sows
European Union 27 (b) of which							n/a	n/a
Germany			26,687	2,368			26,719	2,296
Spain	24,639	2,530			25,421	2,421	26,290	2,542
Poland	15,687	1,423			15,425	1,367	14,242	1,279
France			14,654	1,210			14,796	1,201
Denmark	12,186	1,296			12,352	1,303	12,195	1,289
Netherlands	12,029	1,101			11,900	1,050	11,735	1,025
Italy			9,285	747			9,252	756
Romania	4,980	377			5,554	368	6,174	376
Belgium			n/a	n/a			n/a	n/a
United Kingdom			4,655	481			4,550	488
All other Member States							n/a	n/a
(p) = provisional n/a = Figures not yet available There is only one common period for pig population surveys across the EU, i.e. November/December. However, the main pig-producing Member States must survey their pig populations at least twice each year, with no more than six months between survey dates. The Eurostat definition of breeding sows includes sow and gilts in pig, other sows for breeding and intended gilts.