Germany

Germany: lowest pig population in 25 years

Pork

What the first cattle survey results of the individual federal states gave a foretaste of in the last few days has now been confirmed by the current figures from the Federal Statistical Office: the pig population in Germany has fallen further and even more significantly and the number of pig farms is also falling dramatically. As of November 03, 2021, 10.9 million fattening pigs were kept, 3.2% less than in May of this year. The number of piglets fell even more sharply, falling by 5.7% to 6.9 million animals in the same period. The pig population in Germany is at its lowest level in 25 years.

Posted on Dec 24 ,11:15

According to the preliminary results of the survey on pig populations presented by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the pig population in Germany fell again significantly as of November 3, 2021 and is at the lowest level since 1996. A total of 23.6 million pigs are currently being generated held, which corresponds to a decrease of 2,450,300 animals or 9.4% compared to the previous year. Due to the pork congestion at the end of 2020 and the resulting shift in the number of pigs, it is also worth taking a look at the November count in 2019. 

In the press release published by Destatis, the following picture emerges for the individual animal categories and weight classes: As of November 3, 2021, 10.9 million fattening pigs were being kept in Germany, 3.2% or 359,600 animals less than half a year earlier. There was a decrease in particular among fattening pigs with a live weight of 50 to less than 80 kilograms, where the population fell by 8.1% or 422,800 to 4.8 million animals. The number of fattening pigs in the upper weight class of 110 kg or more live weight increased by 7.1% or 90,500 to 1.4 million animals. The population of fattening pigs with a live weight of 80 to less than 110 kilograms remained almost constant at 4.7 million animals (-0.6% or -27,300 animals).

In addition to the herds, the number of pig farms is also declining. As of November 3, 2021, there were 18,800 pig farms. That was 7.8% or 1,600 companies less than in November 2020. Compared to 2019, the decrease is a clear 11.3% (- 2,400 companies). Among other things, Destatis names the further falling pork prices due to the low demand in trade and export as the reason for the falling number of companies.

In a ten-year comparison, both the number of pigs kept and the number of farms declined: The number of pigs fell by 13.8% or 3.8 million animals since 2011, while the number of farms fell by 39.1% (-12,100 Companies) decreased. Since the number of farms decreased more than the number of pigs kept, the average pig population increased from 886 to 1,254 pigs per farm over the past ten years.

Comments

Similar articles