According to the Economic Survey 2006-07 released by Pakistan’s Finance Ministry, demand for beef and mutton has grown substantially in the last year, leading to higher slaughter numbers. The total number of animals slaughtered in 2006 reached 22.65 million, 35.7% higher than the 16.69 million reported a decade earlier in 1996.

Cattle slaughter also increased from 2.18 million to 3.56 million (+63.3%) in the same ten-year period, whilst the buffalo slaughter rose from 2.18 million to 3.34 million (+53.2%), sheep from 4.44 million to 4.73 million (+6.5%) and goats from 7.84 million to 11 million (+40.3%).

Although increased demand for meat has boosted slaughter numbers, according to the report this improvement could also be ascribed to government initiatives and support programmes that have been introduced to assist livestock farmers.