CSO: Number of cattle slaughtered fell by 12% compared to 2024
The number of cattle slaughtered between January and November 2025 fell by 12% when compared with the same period in 2024, a new report from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows.
The number of cattle slaughtered fell by 22.7% in November 2025 when compared with the same month in 2024.
Between January and November 2025, sheep slaughterings decreased by 18.5% when compared with the same period in 2024 and were down by 4.8% when comparing November 2025 with November 2024.
The number of pigs slaughtered in the first 11 months of 2025 grew by 1.9% when compared with the same 11-month period in 2024 and dropped by 3.1% in November 2025 when compared with November 2024.
Commenting on the release, Mairead Griffin, statistician in the agriculture accounts and production section of the CSO said: "Cattle slaughterings decreased by 22.7% to 135,000 heads in November 2025 when compared with November 2024.
"During the same period, the number of sheep slaughtered fell to 179,000 heads and pig slaughterings were down to 287,000 heads.
"Further analysis of the data shows that between January and November 2025, cattle slaughterings contracted to 1.5 million heads when compared with the same period in 2024.
"The number of sheep slaughterings decreased to 2.2 million heads while pig slaughterings went up to 3.1 million heads over the same 11-month period."
