Livestock populations in England at 1 June 2024
Updated 29 August 2024
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2024
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/livestock-populations-in-england/livestock-populations-in-england-at-1-june-2023
This release contains the estimates of cattle, sheep, pig and poultry populations on commercial agricultural holdings in England on 1 June 2024 from the June Survey of Agriculture.
All results tables are available in the accompanying dataset at Livestock populations in England at 1 June (dataset). This dataset contains detailed breakdowns for all livestock, including poultry and other livestock from 1983 to 2024.
Livestock
- The total number of cattle and calves in England decreased by 2.0% to 5.0 million in June 2024. The breeding herd saw a decrease of 2.2% and now stands at 1.7 million. The dairy herd is broadly stable at 1.0 million.
- In 2024, the total number of pigs in England increased by 1.3% to 3.7 million animals. Breeding pig numbers fell by 1.0% to 326 thousand animals, while fattening pigs rose by 1.5%.
- The total number of sheep and lambs decreased by 4.3%, to 13.8 million in 2024. The female breeding flock fell by 5.6% to 6.6 million and lambs decreased by 3.5% to 6.9 million.
- The total number of poultry decreased by 1.5% to 129 million in 2024. Broiler numbers decreased by 3.5% to 88 million whilst the breeding and laying flock remained stable at 32 million. Turkey numbers rose by over a quarter to 3.1 million.
Section 1 Detailed results
1.1 Cattle
The number of cattle and calves in England has decreased by 2.0% between 2023 and 2024 and now stands at just under 5.0 million animals.
Figure 1 - Breakdown of the female cattle breeding herd in England at 1 June (Number of cattle)
| year | Beef herd | Dairy herd | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 688,292 | 1,111,664 | 1,799,956 |
| 2021 | 665,336 | 1,102,062 | 1,767,398 |
| 2022 | 650,836 | 1,093,845 | 1,744,681 |
| 2023 | 627,101 | 1,086,534 | 1,713,635 |
| 2024 | 595,157 | 1,080,243 | 1,675,400 |
The breeding herd has decreased, falling by 2.2% to 1.7 million animals in 2024 but continues to account for just over a third of the overall total number of cattle in England. Within this, the dairy herd is broadly stable and stands at just under 1.1 million animals, accounting for just under two thirds of the breeding herd. The beef herd decreased by 5.1% to 595 thousand animals (Figure 1).
1.2 Pigs
The number of pigs in England has increased by 1.3% to 3.7 million in 2024, driven by a 1.5% rise in the number of fattening pigs.
The number of breeding pigs has decreased by 1.0% to 326 thousand head. The female breeding herd which accounts for 77% of breeding pigs fell by 2.2% to 251 thousand head. Decreases were seen across each category within the breeding herd (Figure 2).
Figure 2 - Breakdown of the female pig breeding herd in England at 1 June (Number of pigs)
| year | Sows in pig | Gilts in pig | Other sows | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 232,430 | 41,496 | 44,924 | 318,850 |
| 2021 | 220,915 | 40,032 | 52,050 | 312,997 |
| 2022 | 189,301 | 28,860 | 42,646 | 260,807 |
| 2023 | 183,570 | 31,439 | 41,989 | 256,998 |
| 2024 | 183,008 | 29,788 | 38,602 | 251,398 |
(1) Other sows are those either being suckled or dry sows kept for further breeding.
Fattening pigs account for 91% of all pigs and stood at 3.4 million in 2024. This was an increase of 1.5% when compared with 2023.
1.3 Sheep
The number of sheep and lambs in England has decreased by 4.3%, to 13.8 million in 2024 and continues the overall downward trend in flock size seen in recent years.
Lambs account for half of all sheep and decreased by 3.5% to 6.9 million. The female breeding flock accounts for a further 47% of all sheep and also saw a decrease in 2024, falling by 5.6% to 6.6 million sheep (Figure 3).
Figure 3 - Breakdown of the total sheep in England at 1 June (Number of sheep)
| year | Female breeding flock | Other sheep and lambs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 6,977,348 | 8,049,425 | 15,026,773 |
| 2021 | 6,873,017 | 7,753,215 | 14,626,232 |
| 2022 | 7,071,821 | 7,849,786 | 14,921,607 |
| 2023 | 6,955,500 | 7,495,046 | 14,450,546 |
| 2024 | 6,567,035 | 7,263,820 | 13,830,855 |
1.4 Poultry
The number of poultry in England has decreased by 1.5% to 129 million in 2024.
The overall reduction in numbers is largely due to a 3.5% fall to 87.9 million in the number of table chickens (broilers), which account for 68% of all poultry. The number of breeding and laying fowl remains stable at just under 32.2 million (Figure 4).
Figure 4 - Breakdown of the total breeding and laying flock in England at 1 June (Number of birds)
| Year | Hens and pullets laying eggs for eating | Breeding flock | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 24,472,143 | 8,559,157 | 33,031,300 |
| 2021 | 24,924,306 | 8,518,660 | 33,442,966 |
| 2022 | 24,050,604 | 8,507,703 | 32,558,307 |
| 2023 | 23,006,783 | 9,196,620 | 32,203,403 |
| 2024 | 23,344,182 | 8,816,080 | 32,160,262 |
The number of turkeys has increased by 29% to 3.1 million birds in 2024, recovering from the fall seen last year when numbers were affected by avian influenza and increased input costs.
Section 2 About these statistics
2.1 Survey methodology
Full details of the survey methodology are available on the Structure of the agricultural industry guidance web page.
The June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture has been run predominantly online since 2011, with an option for farmers to complete a paper form if they prefer. The survey is annual and samples around 30,000 holdings most years, with a full census run once a decade. The last census was run in 2021.
The June 2023 survey was sent to a sample of 56,000 commercial holdings and responses were received from 30,000 holdings, representing a response rate of 53%.
This is a larger sample than usual which will enable us to provide detailed geographical breakdowns later in the year and help to understand changes currently happening within the farming sector, e.g. changes in land use following the introduction of ELM schemes. Commercial holdings are defined as those with more than five hectares of agricultural land, one hectare of orchards, 0.5 hectares of vegetables or 0.1 hectares of protected crops, or more than 10 cows, 50 pigs, 20 sheep, 20 goats or 1,000 poultry.
Table 1 provides details of the sample survey population broken down by farm size. The size of a farm is determined by its Standard Labour Requirement (SLR) which is the typical number of full-time workers required on the holding based on its activity.
Table 1: June 2024 population size and sampling rate
| Stratum | Description | Sampling rate (%) | Population size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SLR < 0.5 | 30% | 50264 | |
| 2 | SLR >= 0.5 and < 1 | 51% | 15271 | |
| 3 | SLR >= 1 and < 2 | 71% | 13527 | |
| 4 | SLR >= 2 and < 3 | 80% | 6773 | |
| 5 | SLR >= 3 and < 5 | 80% | 6675 | |
| 6 | SLR >= 5 | 80% | 7182 | |
| 10 | SLR unknown | 97% | 5649 | |
| All | 52% | 105341 |
For pig and poultry sectors, an additional data collection exercise was run to collect data from a central point for some of the largest companies. Cattle results are sourced from the Cattle Tracing System (CTS). The data include returns from all holdings with cattle so are not subject to survey error.
2.2 Data analysis
The data are subject to rigorous validation checks which identify inconsistencies within the data or large year-on-year changes. Any records that have not been cleaned by the results production stage are excluded from the analysis.
Population totals are estimated for each question on the survey to account for the non-sampled and non-responding holdings. This survey uses the technique known as ratio raising, in which the trend between the sample data and base data (previous year s data) is calculated for each stratum. The calculated ratio is then applied to the previous year s population data to give England level estimates. For holdings where we do not have base data (new holdings or long-term non-responders) the sample estimates are raised according to the inverse sampling fraction.
2.3 Confidence indicators
Confidence intervals and tick based indicators are shown alongside all of our estimated figures and can be found in the data tables within the dataset. These both help to show where there is more variability around results and highlight whether year-on-year changes are statistically significant or not. Whilst these are a useful indicator, they do not take into account any other sources of survey errors, such as non-response bias or administrative data errors.
2.4 Data notes
- All figures relate to commercial holdings apart from the cattle figures which relate to all holdings as these data are sourced from the Cattle Tracing Scheme.
- All percentage changes are based on unrounded figures.
- Totals may not necessarily agree with the sum of their components due to rounding.
2.5 Data uses and users
Results from the June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture have a wide range of uses and users with requests for data being made on a frequent basis. A document providing information of specific uses and users can be found on our guidance and notes.
2.6 Other survey results and publications
The next releases from the June Survey are expected to be at the end of September. The definitive publication date will be announced on the research and statistics webpage on gov.uk.
More detailed results from the June Survey can be found on our Structure of the agricultural industry in England and the UK at June web page. This includes various time series of crop areas and livestock numbers dating back as early as 1866 and detailed geographical breakdowns of the results.
2.7 Feedback
We welcome feedback and any thoughts to improve the publication further. Please send any feedback to: farming-statistics@defra.gov.uk.
Section 3 - What you need to know about this release
3.1 Contact details
Responsible statistician: Sarah Thompson
Team: Farming Statistics Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Email: farming-statistics@defra.gov.uk
Tel: 0300 060 0170
3.2 Accredited official statistics
Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. An explanation can be found on the Office for Statistics Regulation website.
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.
These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in 2014. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled accredited official statistics .
You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards (see contact details). Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.
Since the latest review by the Office for Statistics Regulation, we have continued to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics, and have made the following improvements:
- Reviewed and amended the validation checks carried out on response data including validation against new administrative data sources to better assure ourselves of the quality of the statistics.
- Enhanced trustworthiness by removing pre-release access.