Small fall in EU cattle population
The latest figures from the European Union give a provisional cattle herd of 75.6 million head across its 27 member states in 2021. An update at the end of May still had unconfirmed figures for a number of important cattle-rearing countries.
If confirmed, 75.6 million would represent a fall of around 1.1% compared to the figure for 2020.
France remains the biggest producer of cattle in the EU, with a provisional figure of 17.3 million head in 2021, down by 2.7% year on year. Germany’s total, at just over 11 million head, represents a fall of 2.3%.
Ireland’s cattle population of more than 6.6 million head puts it in third place, just ahead of Spain, Poland and Italy. Ireland’s 2021 figure was up by 1.8% on the previous year and Poland also registered growth, rising by 1.6% to nearly 6.4 million head.
The figure for Spain was down by 1% to just under 6.6 million, while Italy’s total, just under 6.3 million, was down by 1.9%.
