The number of cattle slaughtered in the first five months of this year is down by 3.9% compared to the same period in 2022, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
Figures released today (Tuesday, June 27) also show that between January and May, sheep slaughterings increased by 3.6% on the same period in 2022.
The number of pigs slaughtered fell by 10.8% when compared with the same five months in 2022.
When the data for May 2023 is compared with May 2022, cattle slaughterings contracted by 2,600 head or 1.7% to just over 152,000.
The number of sheep slaughtered rose by 12,373 (5.2%) to nearly 249,000 in May 2023 compared the same month last year, while pig slaughterings dropped by 10.1% in the year to 288,192.
CSO
Commenting on the release, Mairead Griffin, statistician in the CSO’s agriculture accounts and production section, said: “Cattle slaughterings decreased by 1.7% to just over 152,000 head in May 2023, when compared with May 2022.
“Over that same period, the number of sheep slaughtered grew by 5.2% to almost 249,000 head and pig slaughterings contracted by 10.1% to just over 288,000 head.
“Further analysis of the data shows that between January and May 2023, sheep slaughterings increased by 3.6% to almost 1.3 million head, while the number of cattle declined by 3.9% to nearly 762,000 head.
“However, pig slaughterings fell by 10.8% to just under 1.4 million head over the same period,” Griffin said.