Germany: Pig population increased slightly from May to November 2023
As of November 3, 2023, there were 9.6 million fattening pigs in Germany, 1.1% or 103,800 fewer animals than six months earlier. The number of piglets and young pigs, however, increased by 3.7% or 365,100 animals to 10.2 million.
The number of breeding sows remained almost constant compared to May 2023 at 1.4 million animals. However, there are differentiated developments at the federal state level. While the keeping of breeding sows was increased in some federal states, it fell in other countries. For example, in North Rhine-Westphalia there were 6.4% more breeding sows (+20,000 animals), in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania there was an increase of 11.6% (+6,400 animals). In contrast, the number of breeding sows in Lower Saxony fell by 3.1% (-11,300 animals) and Bavaria by 4.9% (-8,000 animals). One explanation for the developments could be that companies in the federal states react differently to new requirements in sow farming. Here the so-called crate system must be abolished. This requires modifications to the stables, which must be carried out within certain deadlines.
The number of pig farms has fallen by 42.1% in a ten-year comparison
As of November 3, 2023, the number of pig farm businesses was 16,200 and thus remained almost unchanged compared to May 3, 2023. Compared to the previous year (November 3, 2022), the number fell by 4.5% (-800 companies) and in a two-year comparison by 14.2% (-2,700 companies). In a ten-year comparison, the declining trends in pig farms are even clearer: the number of pigs has fallen by 24.6% or 6.9 million animals since 2013, while the number of farms has even fallen by 42.1% (-11,800 farms ) decreased. The development towards larger pig farms continues: while in 2013 a farm kept an average of 1,000 pigs, ten years later there were 1,300 animals per farm.
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