EU loses a third of its sows in 20 years

From 2004 to 2024, the European Union reduced its breeding sow population by more than 4.8 million animals, from 15.02 million to 10.15 million. Despite this significant reduction in the number of breeding sows - a 32.4 % drop in 20 years - total pigmeat production has barely changed. In 2004, the Member States produced approximately 21.1 million tons of pigmeat, while in 2024 this figure will remain virtually unchanged at 21.04 million tons.

All EU-27 Member States have seen their breeding herds decrease, except for Spain, which has not only maintained but slightly increased its herd from 2.606 million in 2004 to 2.611 million in 2024, but has increased its pigmeat production by almost 60% in these 20 years, from 3.08 million tons in 2004 to 4.92 million tons in 2024, consolidating its position as the main EU producer from 2021 onwards.

For the other main producing countries, we note that this change has not been homogeneous:

• Germany, which had almost 2.47 million sows in 2004, has seen its inventory reduced to 1.39 million in 2024, a loss of more than one million animals (-43%);
• Denmark saw a less marked decline of 17%, from 1.4 million head in 2004 to 1.16 million head in 2024;
• France has also suffered a significant reduction, from 1.29 to 0.83 million sows (-36%);
• The Netherlands shows a decrease of 30%, from 1.12 million head in 2004 to 783,000 in 2024;
• Poland, with 1.65 million in 2004, has experienced a severe contraction in its inventory, with 600,000 sows in 2024 (-63%).

Italy and Portugal have suffered reductions lower than the EU average. Italy has gone from 724,800 sows in 2004 to 596,990 in 2024, a drop of 17.6%, while Portugal has reduced its invenory by 15.7%, from 261,400 to 220,460 sows.

Remember, you can find inventory, production, and trade data on our "Pig production data" page.

May 30, 2025/ 333 Staff with Eurostat data.