France is expected to retain its top position as the largest beef producer in the EU in 2024 ahead of Germany, Spain and Ireland, according to latest projections published by Eurostat.
But, overall according to the latest statistics there will be a slight decrease in beef production in general in the EU this year.
According to Eurostat the production of bovine animals is forecast to hit 12.1 million head in the second semester of 2024.
But this would represent a decrease of 1% compared with the same period in 2023 when 12.2 million head of animals were produced.
The production of sheep is also forecast to decrease by 7% to 15.6 million head in the second semester of 2024, while the production of goats is expected to drop by 9%, to 2.4 million head.
Looking ahead to the last quarter of 2024, there is also a negative outlook in relation to the production of pigs which is expected to decrease by 1% compared with the same quarter of 2023.
Beef production
This year France, according to latest statistics, will be the largest producer of bovine meat in the second semester of 2024.
It is expected to produce 2.7 million head, ahead of Germany, who is forecast to produce 2 million, Spain – 1.3 million – and then Ireland at roughly 1 million.
Meanwhile Spain is likely to emerge as the largest producer of pigs in 2024 – with forecasts suggesting it will produce in the region of 13.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2024.
This would position it as the largest pigmeat producing EU country, ahead of Germany – which is expected to produce 8.8 million head and Denmark with an estimated 7.3 million head.
Latest statistics also indicated that Spain is expected to be the largest producer of sheep in the second semester of 2024 with more than 4.5 million head, followed by Romania – 2.6 million – and Greece – 2.1 million.
It is projected that Greece, the EU’s leading producer of goats, will produce 1 million head in the second semester of 2024 while Spain is expected to produce half a million head.