Livestock on the rise in Turkey

The number of livestock in Turkey has increased since the end of last year. The number of sheep increased by 7.3% and reached 45.182 million heads. Compared to December last year, the number of cattle increased slightly - by 0.9% to 18.124 million heads, and the number of buffalo increased by 0.9% and amounted to 194,000 heads at the end of June compared to December last year, Turkstat reports. . 

In the group of sheep and goats, the number of sheep increased by 7.3% and amounted to 45.182 million, while; the number of goats increased by 2.1% and amounted to 12.235 million heads.

Turkey imported 689,076 head of cattle in 2019, down 52% from the previous year, according to a USDA report . The Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry restricted imports of feed, breeding and cattle for slaughter at the end of 2019 as Turkish cattle producers struggled to compete with low prices for imported livestock in the domestic market.

Turkey produced 1 million metric tons (MT) of beef in 2019, which is similar to 2018. Stagnation in beef production is associated with a reduction in livestock imports in 2019. 

Red meat consumption remained at 15kg per capita in 2020 due to continued food inflation, high red meat prices and weak consumer purchasing power. Low consumption rates and problems caused by the COVID-19 crisis may also explain the increase in livestock numbers over the last 7 months.

And this fact will be taken into account when preparing the monthly analytical report Meatinfo.ru