Key points:

• Cattle: UK prime cattle slaughterings were 4 per cent higher than in March 2010 at 172 thousand head. Beef and veal production was 74 thousand tonnes, 5 per cent higher than in March 2010.
• Pigs: UK clean pig slaughterings were 8 per cent higher than in March 2010 at 763 thousand head. Pigmeat production was 63 thousand tonnes, a rise of 8 per cent on March 2010.

Section 1: UK monthly slaughter estimates

This table shows monthly estimates of the number of cattle, sheep and pigs slaughtered for meat for human consumption in the United Kingdom. The survey is run according to statistical, rather than calendar months, the number of weeks in the statistical month is specified below.

Section 2: UK average dressed carcase weights

This table shows the monthly average dressed carcase weight of livestock slaughtered for meat for human consumption in the United Kingdom. Longer term trends can be found on the Defra website.

Section 3: UK monthly home-killed production of meat

This table shows the monthly volumes of meat produced in the United Kingdom. Data is shown according to statistical, rather than calendar months, number of weeks in statistical month as specified.

Section 4: UK average weekly slaughterings

This following table shows the average weekly slaughter figures for the last thirteen months. The monthly slaughter figures in section one are affected by the number of weeks in the statistical month. To get a clearer measure of trends weekly averages are calculated by dividing the number of livestock slaughtered each month by the number of weeks in the statistical month.

Longer term trends can be seen in the charts following this table.

Table 4. UK average weekly slaughterings Thousand Head
United Kingdom	2010										2011
	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar
Steers	20	20	19	18	18	18	21	22	21	18	20	20	21
Heifers	16	15	14	14	13	13	14	15	17	15	17	17	16
Young Bulls	6	6	7	8	8	8	7	6	6	5	6	6	6
Cows and Adult Bulls	10	9	9	9	10	10	11	13	16	11	14	12	11
Calves	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	1	1	2	2
Clean Pigs	177	172	174	171	171	181	184	190	197	179	181	192	191
Sows and Boars	4	4	4	4	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
* Data are confidential

United Kingdom average weekly slaughtering – Cattle

United Kingdom average weekly slaughtering – Pigs

Section 5: UK slaughterings by country

This table shows monthly estimates of the number of cattle, sheep and pigs slaughtered for meat in England and Wales, Scotland, Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Data are shown in statistical months, rather than calendar months. The totals for the countries may not add up to the Great Britain totals or the United Kingdom totals in section one, due to rounding.

Further Reading

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