This publication shows various statistics obtained from surveys of slaughterhouses run in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. They are based on data from all slaughterhouses but remain provisional until all the returns are in. The statistics are shown in statistical months - that is, statistics for January, April, July, and October are for periods of five weeks while statistics for other months are for periods of four weeks. Unless otherwise stated, all information is for the United Kingdom.

In this issue:

1. UK monthly slaughter estimates.
2. UK monthly average dressed carcase weights.
3. UK monthly home-killed production of meat.
4. UK average weekly slaughter estimates.
5. UK slaughterings by country.
6. UK quarterly production and supplies of meat.

1. UK monthly slaughter estimates

Monthly estimates of the number of cattle, sheep and pigs slaughtered for meat in the United Kingdom are given in the table below. They are shown in statistical months.

United Kingdom	September 2004 4 weeks	October 2004 5 weeks	November 2004 4 weeks
Clean Pigs	702	894	761
Sows and Boars	19	22	17
Thousand head

A dataset showing slaughter statistics for the same months in previous years can be found on the Defra
website at http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/datasets/slaughm.xls (Excel format).

2. UK average dressed carcase weights

The surveys of slaughterhouses also collect information on the meat produced which enables average dressed carcase weights to be calculated. Monthly average dressed carcase weight for livestock slaughtered for meat in the United Kingdom are given in the table below.

United Kingdom	September 2004	October 2004	November 2004
Clean Pigs	75.2	74.0	75.6
Sows and Boars	159.9	157.2	159.4
Kilogramme

Livestock slaughtered under the Over Thirty Month Scheme are excluded.
A dataset showing slaughter statistics for the same months in previous years can be found on the Defra
website at http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/datasets/alldcw.xls.

3. UK monthly home-killed production of meat

The surveys of slaughterhouses also collect information on the meat produced. This enables the total quantity of meat produced in the United Kingdom to be calculated. Home-killed production includes livestock imported into the United Kingdom for slaughter and differs from home-fed production (see Table 6) which excludes livestock imported into the United Kingdom for slaughter. The figures are shown in statistical months.

United Kingdom	Setember 2004 4 weeks	October 2004 5 weeks	November 2004 4 weeks
Beef	56	72	61
Mutton and Lamb	27	36	29
Pigmeat	56	70	60
Thousand tonnes

Livestock slaughtered under the Over Thirty Month Scheme are excluded.

4. UK average weekly slaughterings

The monthly figures shown in Table 1 are affected by the number of weeks in the month. In order to provide a better, and more immediately accessible to readers, measure of trends over time, the following tables show average weekly slaughterings for each of the last twelve months. Longer time series are shown in the charts.

	2003	2004
(Thousand Head)	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov
Clean Pigs	172	169	175	166	161	164	167	168	176	176	179	190
Sows and Boars	4	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	5	5	4	4
Thousand head

Further Information

To read the full report, please click here (PDF Format)

Source: Defra - 21st December 2004