The Central Statistics Office (CSO) released its Statistical Yearbook of Ireland 2020 yesterday (Tuesday, October 20) publishing key economic data for the year 2019.

Included are figures for agriculture, including livestock numbers. Yesterday, AgriLand outlined the figures for cattle generally and dairy cows specifically, and now we turn attention to sheep and pigs.

Sheep

The total number of sheep in the country as of last year was just over 5.1 million head, and is a slight increase on the 2018 figure.

If we look at the 10-year trend, the figure for last year is about 400,000 head higher than the 2010 figure, which was just over 4.7 million head.

The 2019 figure is comprised of some 74,200 rams (a slight decrease of around 2,000 on 2018); just over 2.4 million ewes (a decrease of around 60,000 on 2018); and just over 2.6 million other sheep (an increase of about 100,000 on 2018).

The latter figure, that of other sheep (excluding rams and ewes) was at its highest last year since before 2010, which is as far back as the CSO Yearbook’s figures go.

The table below illustrates the 10-year trend:

Data source: CSO

Pigs

Turning to pigs, and the total figure for 2019 was just north of 1.6 million head, a marginal decrease of some 5,000 head on the 2018 figure.

On a 10-year basis, the figure last year was 100,000 head higher than for 2010. Last year and the preceding year were the only ones of the last 10 where the figure was greater than 1.6 million head.

The 2019 figure is comprised of 1,100 boars; 142,300 female breeding pigs; and just over 1.47 million other pigs.

The numbers for both boars and female breeding pigs were the lowest last year out of the last 10 years. The number for other pigs was the second-highest out of the last 10 years, down by less than 1,000 head on 2018.

The table below shows this in greater detail:

Data source: CSO