UK/EU Pig Populations - March 2007

This article is extracted from Chapter 5. of the quarterly pig bulletin published by Defra and provides a brief overview of the latest statistics relating to pig populations in the UK and Europe.
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The following graph illustrates the UK pig breeding herd between June 1981 and December 2006. It shows clearly the sharp fall since December 1997, the herd having reduced by over a third during that period. The increase between December 2000 and June 2001 is thought to be due to sows being retained for breeding due to movement restrictions and the lack of an export market for cull sows as a result of the Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak. There was little change in the national sow herd in June 2004, in contrast to the declines in other years. The provisional December 2006 census results show a slight increase in the breeding herd compared to 2005. Pigs for slaughtering fell slightly to 4,149 thousand head.

EU pig populations

There is only one common period for pig population surveys across the EU – 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 latest results are shown in the tables below. The Eurostat definition of breeding sows includes sows and gilts in pig, other sows for breeding and intended gilts. EU Member States were showing little change in the number of breeding sows at their latest surveys.

The following chart shows the proportion of total pigs in each Member State as at November/December 2005, the latest date for which figures for all EU 25 states are available.

Pig Populations in New EU Member States

As part of the process of applying for membership of the EU the new member countries had to work on bringing their systems for monitoring the agricultural industry into line with EU requirements. For some countries this involved the collection of new, or improved, statistical information. As a result of this there may have been significant changes to the methodologies used in each country over time. However, the following table shows the estimated total number of pigs in the new member countries at December of each year from 1993 onwards. All new member countries now provide figures.

UK/EU Pig Statistics

For information on UK and EU Pig Statistics which form Chapters 1-4 of this report click here

Further Information

To read the full report, including tables (PDF - 20 pages), click here
This article is taken from Chapter 5. towards the end of the PDF.

March 2007
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