The number of pigs in the EU has fallen sharply

High feed costs, low pig prices and the problems caused by coronavirus and African swine fever are forcing many pig farmers to cut production.

Many pig farmers in the European Union have apparently reacted to the sharp rise in production costs with persistently low producer prices last year and have markedly reduced their herds. In any case, this is indicated by the first preliminary results of the livestock census for November and December 2021, which the European Union Statistical Office (Eurostat) has now published for 14 out of 27 Member States. According to them, the number of pigs kept in these countries, which makes up a good 60 percent of the total EU herd, decreased by 5.78 million or 6.4% to 84.06 million head compared to the previous year's census. The number of breeding sows decreased by 416 thousand heads, or by 6.2%, to 6.31 million heads. However, it should be noted in this data that Spain, the largest pig producer in the EU, has not yet provided figures.

Big drop in Germany and Poland

According to the results available so far, the number of pigs has decreased in all EU countries, with the exception of Cyprus, which does not play a big role in the overall figure. In absolute terms, the largest drop was in Germany - from 2.45 million, or 9.4%, to 23.62 million heads. However, in relative terms, the decline in Poland was even greater - by 12.7% to 10.24 million heads. Pig owners in Greece reduced their pig herd by about 12.5% ​​to 650,000. Among major producing countries, the Netherlands recorded a 5.8% reduction in stock to 10.87 million head; France decreased by 3.4% to 12.94 million heads. In Denmark, the positive trend of previous years was broken: 13.15 million pigs, which is 1.8% less than in December 2020.

Numbers from Spain are still missing

A similar picture was observed in the number of breeding sows, which is important for the further development of production. Here, according to preliminary data from Eurostat, Polish producers reduced their herd by almost one-fifth to 654,000 sows during the year. Germany also saw an above-average reduction in the number of sows compared to the EU average by 7.3% to 1.57 million heads. France and Denmark had 3.8% and 3% fewer sows than a year earlier. The decline in the Netherlands was more moderate, at 1.8% to 910,000 sows. While livestock census results are still missing from several countries, including Spain, there are already signs of a marked decline in EU pork production in 2022.