FAO figures show hide production remains close to 300 million
The latest available figures from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) say that livestock farming around the world generated an estimated 293 million cattle hides in 2020. FAO’s figure for sheepskin in 2020 is 590 million pieces, while the estimate for goatskins is 495 million.
These figures are close to those the Rome-based FAO has given for 2019. For cattle hides, there is a decline of 1.3% compared to the year before. However, its estimates for sheepskin and goatskin suggest growth. The 2020 numbers represent increases of, respectively, 2.4% and 1.8%.
This means the potential availability of hides and skins to tanners remains high, although everyone in the leather industry knows that millions of these hides and skins never enter the leather value chain.
