Germany: Meat production increased by 1.3 percent in the first half of 2024
According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), this was 1.3% more than in the same period last year. In total, 24 million pigs, cattle, sheep, goats and horses as well as 344.3 million chickens, turkeys and ducks were slaughtered in slaughterhouses in the first half of 2024.
For the first time since 2016, pork production increased slightly in the first half of the year.
In the first six months of the year, farms in Germany slaughtered 21.9 million pigs. This represents a slight increase of 0.4% (78,100 animals) compared to the previous year.
96.6% of these pigs (21.2 million) are of domestic origin. Here, too, there was an increase of 0.4% or 86,600 animals compared to the previous year. 734,000 pigs of foreign origin were slaughtered in the first half of the year. This corresponds to a decrease of 1.1% compared to the same period last year. The share of pigs of foreign origin in the total number of pigs slaughtered was 3.4% in the first half of 2024.
The amount of pork produced in the first half of 2024 was 2.1 million tonnes, 1.1% (+22,400 tonnes) higher than the same period last year. For the first time since 2016, after a continuous decline in German slaughterings, there was a slight increase in pork production in the first half of the year. In the first half of 2016, however, 7.4 million more pigs were slaughtered and 2.8 million tonnes of pork were produced, 661,400 tonnes more than in 2024.
Beef production 2.5% higher than in the same period last year
In total, farms in Germany slaughtered around 1.5 million cattle in the first half of 2024. Compared to the previous year, this represents an increase of 1.3% (+18,300 animals). The amount of beef produced rose by 2.5% to 496,600 tonnes (+12,000 tonnes) compared to the first half of 2023. The average slaughter weight of the cattle was just under 337 kilograms, around 4 kilograms higher than in the same period last year.
Poultry meat production increased by 1.3%
In the first half of 2024, a total of 344.3 million animals of various poultry species were slaughtered in Germany. Although the number of animals slaughtered hardly increased, around 780,700 tonnes of poultry meat was produced in the first half of 2024, 1.3% more than in the same period last year (+9,700 tonnes).
Pork has the largest share in production
Pork has had the largest share of commercial meat production in Germany for years. In the first half of 2024, 62.0% of the meat produced came from slaughtered pigs. This was followed by poultry meat with a share of 23.0% and beef with 14.6%. The meat of sheep, goats and horses only accounted for around 0.4% of total production.
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