![The EU’s livestock population is declining for the 10th consecutive year [Global Report]](https://foodcom.pl/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Foodcom_World_News_Dairy-1520x760.jpg "The EU’s livestock population is declining for the 10th consecutive year [Global Report]")
• The EU’s livestock population has declined for the tenth consecutive year.
• The declines affected all major livestock groups: pigs, cattle, sheep, and goats.
• The largest decreases were seen in sheep and goat herds.
• Data for 2025 confirm the long-term contraction of the EU’s livestock sector.
The declines affected the entire livestock sector
According to Eurostat data cited by The Cattle Site, the EU’s livestock population declined again in 2025. The declines affected all major livestock groups—pigs, cattle, sheep, and goats—confirming the ongoing pressure on the European livestock sector.
In 2025, the European Union had 131.5 million pigs, 71.6 million head of cattle, 55.3 million sheep, and 10.2 million goats. The sharpest annual declines were seen in goat herds (-2.5%) and sheep flocks (-2.2%), while the declines for pigs (-0.5%) and cattle (-0.4%) were more moderate. For the market, this means the need to continue monitoring supply, particularly in smaller segments that react more quickly to structural changes.
A Decade of Shrinking Livestock Populations
The data for 2025 are part of a longer-term trend observed since 2015. Over the past decade, the numbers of all major livestock groups in the EU have gradually declined, with the largest reductions occurring among goats and sheep.
Compared to 2015, the goat herd decreased by 17.5%, and the sheep herd by 12.2%. The declines also affected larger production segments: the number of cattle was down by 9.7%, and that of pigs by 8.9%. This shows that the decline in livestock numbers is not a one-time fluctuation but part of a broader shift in European livestock production. In the coming months, the market will be watching to see whether the pace of the decline begins to stabilize or whether it will continue to affect the assessment of raw material availability in selected categories.
