UK Slaughter Statistics - March 2011

UK - The latest National Statistics produced by Defra on UK slaughterings of cattle, sheep and pigs were released yesterday, 24 March 2011, according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.
calendar icon 25 March 2011
clock icon 4 minute read

Key points

  • Pigs: UK clean pig slaughterings were 9 per cent higher than in February 2010 at 767 thousand head. Pigmeat production was 64 thousand tonnes, a rise of 10 per cent on February 2010.
  • Cattle: UK prime cattle slaughterings were 5 per cent higher than in February 2010 at 170 thousand head. Beef and veal production was 75 thousand tonnes, 5 per cent higher than in February 2010.

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
Thousand Head
United Kingdom December 2010
5 weeks
January 2011
5 weeks
February 2011
4 weeks
Steers 89 99 80
Heifers 73 83 68
Young Bulls 27 28 22
Cows and Adult Bulls 54 67 49
Calves 6 7 8
Clean Pigs 896 906 767
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 December 2010 January 2011 February 2011
Steers 366.0 367.2 368.1
Heifers 322.4 323.1 322.8
Young Bulls 342.9 344.6 340.3
Cows and Adult Bulls 314.8 316.2 321.2
Calves 44.1 48.3 39.2
Clean Pigs 77.3 79.2 79.7
Sows and Boars 154.3 153.4 143.4

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 December 2010
5 weeks
January 2011
4 weeks
February 2011
4 weeks
Beef 83 94 75
Pigmeat 72 75 64

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 2010 2011
Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb
Steers 19 20 20 19 18 18 18 21 22 21 18 20 20
Heifers 16 16 15 14 14 13 13 14 15 17 15 17 17
Young Bulls 5 6 6 7 8 8 8 7 6 6 5 6 6
Cows and Adult Bulls 11 10 9 9 9 10 10 11 13 16 11 14 12
Calves 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 2
Clean Pigs 176 177 172 174 171 171 181 184 190 197 179 181 192
Sows and Boars 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)
  December 2010
5 weeks
January 2011
5 weeks
February 2011
4 weeks
England & Wales
Steers 55 60 48
Heifers 42 48 39
Young Bulls 18 18 15
Cows and Adult Bulls 41 52 37
Calves 6 6 7
Clean Pigs 698 697 596
Sows and Boars * * *
Scotland
Steers 21 22 19
Heifers 20 20 16
Young Bulls 3 3 2
Cows and Adult Bulls 5 6 4
Calves 0 0 0
Clean Pigs 54 52 48
Sows and Boars 0 0 0
Great Britain
Steers 76 82 66
Heifers 61 69 55
Young Bulls 21 21 17
Cows and Adult Bulls 46 58 42
Calves 6 6 7
Clean Pigs 752 749 644
Sows and Boars * * *
Northern Ireland
Steers 14 16 14
Heifers 11 15 12
Young Bulls 6 7 5
Cows and Adult Bulls 8 10 8
Calves 0 1 0
Clean Pigs 143 157 123
Sows and Boars 1 1 1
*Data are confidential

Further Reading

- You can view the full report by clicking here.

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