The decline in pig herds determined in the spring of 2022 continued at the end of 2022, according to the State Statistical Office of Lower Saxony (LSN) on the basis of preliminary results from November 2022. 

With a decrease of 8.9% compared to November 2021 (7.8 million animals), approx. 7.1 million pigs the lowest stock in ten years. Compared to November 2012, the stock shrank by almost 21.6%.

The number of breeding sows (-16.0%) fell above average compared to the same month last year. In November 2022, around 359,800 breeding sows were still kept. The number of piglets fell by 11.0% compared to the same month last year to around 1.8 million animals.

While in 2012 about 7,800 farms still kept pigs, the number halved almost to around 4,200 farms within ten years (as of November 2022). Compared to November 2021, about 500 farms in Lower Saxony ceased the keeping of pigs. On the other hand, the average size of the company has increased. For example, the number increased from around 1,052 pigs per farm in 2012 to 1,684 animals per farm in November 2022. As in other areas of agriculture, there is a trend towards fewer but larger farms.