How did Spanish imports of live pigs evolve in 2025?

Spanish imports of live animals in 2025

According to data from the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture on live animal imports in 2025, Spain imported a total of 4,778,354 pigs, 12% more than in 2024. Compared to five years ago, imports of live animals have increased by more than 72%, going from 2.78 million head in 2020 to 4.78 million today (Graph 1).

These are last year's total imports by category:

• 3,935,587 animals for raising (82.37% of the total),
• 781,622 for slaughter (16.35% of the total), and
• 61,145 others (breeding, etc.)

Considering the total number of animals imported, the main countries of origin in 2025 were the Netherlands (62.90% of the total), Belgium (17.97%), and Portugal (9.60%), followed by France (4.07%), Denmark (4.05%), and, much further behind, Germany (1.13%).

However, by animal category, Belgium (48.1%), Portugal (25.9%), and France (19.2%) were the main sources of pigs for slaughter, and the Netherlands (75.3%) was by far the main supplier of piglets, followed by Belgium (12.3%) (Graph 2).

Imports following the detection of ASF

On November 28, the presence of African swine fever (ASF) in Spain was confirmed. In light of this development, the evolution of live animal imports in December has been analyzed. However, data for this period should be interpreted with caution, since they may not yet fully reflect the impact of this situation on actual animal import flows. We must also consider the possible seasonal pattern for the month of December. It will be necessary to wait a reasonable period of time to obtain more consolidated data that will allow for a more accurate assessment of the real impact on live animal imports.

In any case, based on the information available, decreases greater than usual for the month of December can be observed (Graph 3).

January 20, 2026/ 333 Staff with MAPA data.