UK Slaughter Statistics - November 2010

UK - The latest National Statistics produced by Defra on UK slaughterings of cattle, sheep and pigs were released on 18 November 2010 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.
calendar icon 19 November 2010
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Key Points

  • Cattle: UK prime cattle slaughterings were 8 per cent higher than in October 2009 at 217 thousand head. Beef and veal production was 96 thousand tonnes, 10 per cent higher than in October 2009.
  • Pigs: UK clean pig slaughterings were 4 per cent higher than in October 2009 at 947 thousand head. Pigmeat production was 79 thousand tonnes, a rise of 5 per cent on October 2009.

Section 1: UK monthly slaughter estimates

This table shows monthly estimates of the number of cattle, sheep and pigs slaughtered for meat for human consumption in the United Kingdom. The survey is run according to statistical, rather than calendar months, the number of weeks in the statistical month is specified below.

Table 1: UK monthly slaughter estimates
United Kingdom August 2010
4 weeks
September 2010
4 weeks
October 2010
5 weeks
Steers 70 83 109
Heifers 52 57 77
Young Bulls 32 27 32
Cows and Adult Bulls 39 45 65
Calves 5 7 10
Clean Pigs 722 735 947
Sows and Boars * * *
* Data are confidential

Section 2: UK average dressed carcase weights

This table shows the monthly average dressed carcase weight of livestock slaughtered for meat for human consumption in the United Kingdom. Longer term trends can be found here.

Table 2: UK average dressed carcase weights
Kilogramme
United Kingdom August 2010 September 2010 October 2010
Steers 367.6 363.9 363.2
Heifers 320.4 319.1 318.9
Young Bulls 349.5 348.0 344.5
Cows and Adult Bulls 315.5 316.9 314.7
Calves 37.2 42.4 39.7
Clean Pigs 78.1 78.9 79.4
Sows and Boars 160.9 155.2 158.9

Section 3: UK monthly home-killed production of meat

The following table shows the monthly volumes of meat produced in the United Kingdom. Data is shown according to statistical, rather than calendar months, number of weeks in statistical month as specified.

Table 3: UK monthly home-killed production of meat
Thousand Tonnes
United Kingdom August 2010
4 weeks
September 2010
4 weeks
October 2010
5 weeks
Beef 66 72 96
Pigmeat 59 61 79

Section 4: UK average weekly slaughterings

This following table shows the average weekly slaughter figures for the last thirteen months. The monthly slaughter figures in section one are affected by the number of weeks in the statistical month. To get a clearer measure of trends weekly averages are calculated by dividing the number of livestock slaughtered each month by the number of weeks in the statistical month.

Longer term trends can be seen in the charts following this table.

Table 4: UK average weekly slaughterings
Thousand Head
United Kingdom 2009 2010
Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct
Steers 20 20 18 17 19 20 20 19 18 18 18 21 22
Heifers 15 16 15 14 16 16 15 14 14 13 13 14 15
Young Bulls 5 6 5 5 5 6 6 7 8 8 8 7 6
Cows and Adult Bulls 11 12 10 9 11 10 9 9 9 10 10 11 13
Calves 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2
Clean Pigs 182 185 180 169 176 177 172 174 171 171 181 184 189
Sows and Boars 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 * * * *
* Data are confidential



United Kingdom average weekly slaughtering – Cattle

United Kingdom average weekly slaughtering - Pigs

Section 5: UK slaughterings by country

This table shows monthly estimates of the number of cattle, sheep and pigs slaughtered for meat in England and Wales, Scotland, Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Data are shown in statistical months, rather than calendar months. The totals for the countries may not add up to the Great Britain totals or the United Kingdom totals in section one, due to rounding.

Section 5: UK slaughterings by country
(Thousand Head)
  August 2010
4 weeks
September 2010
4 weeks
October 2010
5 weeks
England & Wales
Steers 43 48 63
Heifers 33 34 44
Young Bulls 20 18 22
Cows and Adult Bulls 28 33 48
Calves 5 7 9
Clean Pigs 556 568 733
Sows and Boars * * *
Scotland
Steers 17 19 24
Heifers 11 13 19
Young Bulls 5 4 4
Cows and Adult Bulls 4 5 6
Calves 0 0 0
Clean Pigs 46 46 57
Sows and Boars 0 0 0
Great Britain
Steers 60 67 87
Heifers 44 47 63
Young Bulls 26 22 26
Cows and Adult Bulls 32 38 54
Calves 5 7 9
Clean Pigs 602 614 790
Sows and Boars * * *
Northern Ireland
Steers 10 16 22
Heifers 8 10 13
Young Bulls 6 5 6
Cows and Adult Bulls 7 7 10
Calves 0 0 1
Clean Pigs 121 121 157
Sows and Boars 1 1 1
*Data are confidential

Further Reading

- You can view the full report by clicking here.

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