The amount of pork fell by an average of 7.7 percent to 15.2 million tons. Production will likely eventually fall below the 21 million ton mark, which was last the case in 2009. Final data for the whole of 2023 is not yet available.
It appears that none of the 27 EU countries produced more pork last year than the previous year. The blow was greatest in Denmark where 20 percent fewer pigs were slaughtered. In bovine production, only the Netherlands and the Czech Republic recorded a slight increase; all their neighboring countries experienced ongoing shrinkage.
In Germany, the decrease in the number of pigs slaughtered was about 8 percent (43.8 million; down 3 million). This was in line with the EU average. Since 2016, German meat production has been declining. Last year, 48 million pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, and horses were slaughtered.
Belgian slaughterhouses slaughtered over nine million pigs in the entire past year. That is 11 percent (1.2 million pigs) less than the year before. The number of pigs slaughtered in Belgium last stood at such a low level in 1990. Austria and Switzerland also saw fewer slaughters and lower meat production last year.
The decline was smallest at 3 to 4 percent in Romania, Hungary, and Poland. In the pork stronghold Spain, 7.2 percent fewer, albeit heavier, animals were slaughtered (39 million animals), causing the total weight volume to fall by only 4.6 percent.