In 2018, 26.51 million animals were slaughtered on a monthly basis. That is what emerged from the slaughtering figures for 2018 published by Statbel, the Belgian statistical office. In terms of weight, pigs account for the largest share (59 %, 936,000 pigs on a monthly basis). Chickens register the highest numbers, with 25.4 million chickens slaughtered per month.

Slight increase for pigs and chickens, slight decrease for bovine animals

Over the year 2018, 890,000 bovine animals were slaughtered. That is a decrease of 3 % compared to the previous year, putting an end to the upward trend of the last four years.

Over the year 2018, 11.2 million pigs were slaughtered. That is an increase of 3 % compared to 2017, after three consecutive years of decline.

305 million chickens were slaughtered in 2018. We can also see here a slight increase of 1 % compared to 2017.

Pigs register the highest weight

• With a share of 59 % in terms of weight, the pig sector remains the largest contributor of slaughtered animals. That is 1.07 billion kg of slaughter weight every year.
• The poultry sector accounts for 25 % of the slaughter weight, with 462 million kg of slaughtered chickens.
• The bovine sector has a share of 15 % in terms of weight, with a total of 277 million kg of slaughtered animals.

Chickens register the highest numbers per month

If we look at the average number of slaughtered animals per month in 2018, we find the following:

• 25 million chickens
• 936,000 pigs
• 74,000 bovine animals
• 64,000 turkeys
• 11,000 sheep
• 4,000 other poultry
• 3,000 ducks
• 1,500 goats
• 500 horses