In 2021, 26.32 million animals were slaughtered on a monthly basis. In terms of weight, pigs account for the largest share (62%, 965,000 pigs on a monthly basis). Chickens register the highest numbers, with 25.2 million chickens slaughtered per month.
Continued increase for pigs and chickens, limited decrease for bovine animals
Over the year 2021, 767,000 bovine animals were slaughtered. That is a decrease of 2% compared to the previous year, confirming the downward trend already started in 2017.
In addition, 11.6 million pigs were slaughtered. This is an increase of 4% compared to 2020. This recovery brings the number of pigs slaughtered to the highest level since the last five years.
303 million chickens were slaughtered in 2021. We can see here a slight increase of 2%.
Pigs register the highest weight
- With a share of 62% in terms of weight, the pig sector remains the largest contributor of slaughtered animals. That is 1.14 billion kg of slaughter weight every year.
- The poultry sector accounts for 25% of the slaughter weight, with 448 million kg of slaughtered chickens.
- The bovine sector has a share of 13% in terms of weight, with a total of 247 million kg of slaughtered animals.
Chickens register the highest numbers per month
If we look at the average number of slaughtered animals per month, we find the following:
- 25 million chickens
- 965,000 pigs
- 64,000 bovine animals
- 62,000 turkeys
- 10,000 sheep
- 4,000 other poultry
- 3,000 ducks
- 2,000 goats
- 130 horses