UK Slaughter Statistics - December 2010

UK - The latest National Statistics produced by Defra on UK slaughterings of cattle, sheep and pigs were released on 16 December 2010 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.
calendar icon 17 December 2010
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Key Points

  • Cattle: UK prime cattle slaughterings were 6 per cent higher than in November 2009 at 176 thousand head. Beef and veal production was 80 thousand tonnes, 12 per cent higher than in November 2009.
  • Pigs: UK clean pig slaughterings were 6 per cent higher than in November 2009 at 784 thousand head. Pigmeat production was 65 thousand tonnes, a rise of 6 per cent on November 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 September 2010
4 weeks
October 2010
5 weeks
November 2010
4 weeks
Steers 83 109 85
Heifers 57 77 66
Young Bulls 27 32 25
Cows and Adult Bulls 45 65 62
Calves 7 10 7
Clean Pigs 735 947 784
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 on the Defra website by clicking here.

Table 2: UK average dressed carcase weights
Kilogramme
United Kingdom September 2010 October 2010 November 2010
Steers 363.9 363.2 362.5
Heifers 319.1 318.9 318.2
Young Bulls 348.0 344.5 343.2
Cows and Adult Bulls 316.9 314.8 314.1
Calves 42.4 39.8 41.2
Clean Pigs 78.9 79.4 79.1
Sows and Boars 155.2 158.9 154.3

Section 3: UK monthly home-killed production of meat

This 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 September 2010
4 weeks
October 2010
5 weeks
November 2010
4 weeks
Beef 73 96 80
Pigmeat 61 79 65

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
Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov
Steers 20 18 17 19 20 20 19 18 18 18 21 22 21
Heifers 16 15 14 16 16 15 14 14 13 13 14 15 17
Young Bulls 6 5 5 5 6 6 7 8 8 8 7 6 6
Cows and Adult Bulls 12 10 9 11 10 9 9 9 10 10 11 13 15
Calves 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2
Clean Pigs 185 180 169 176 177 172 174 171 171 181 184 189 196
Sows and Boars 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)
  September 2010
4 weeks
October 2010
5 weeks
November 2010
4 weeks
England & Wales
Steers 48 63 51
Heifers 34 44 39
Young Bulls 18 22 18
Cows and Adult Bulls 33 48 46
Calves 7 9 7
Clean Pigs 568 733 606
Sows and Boars * * *
Scotland
Steers 19 24 19
Heifers 13 19 16
Young Bulls 4 4 3
Cows and Adult Bulls 5 6 6
Calves 0 0 0
Clean Pigs 46 57 47
Sows and Boars 0 0 0
Great Britain
Steers 67 87 70
Heifers 47 63 56
Young Bulls 22 26 21
Cows and Adult Bulls 38 54 52
Calves 7 9 7
Clean Pigs 614 790 652
Sows and Boars * * *
Northern Ireland
Steers 16 22 14
Heifers 10 13 11
Young Bulls 5 6 5
Cows and Adult Bulls 7 10 10
Calves 0 1 0
Clean Pigs 121 157 132
Sows and Boars 1 1 1
*Data are confidential

Further Reading

- You can view the full report by clicking here.

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