UK Slaughter Statistics

Reports » UK Slaughter Statistics » UK Slaughter Statistics - May 2012

24 May 2012

UK Slaughter Statistics - May 2012

UK prime cattle slaughterings for April 2012 were 193,000 head and beef and veal production was 84,000 tonnes.

Key points

Pigs: UK clean pig slaughterings were 5 per cent higher than in April 2011 at 934 thousand head. Pigmeat production was 76 thousand tonnes, 6 per cent higher than in April 2011.
Cattle: UK prime cattle slaughterings were 5 per cent lower than in April 2011 at 193 thousand head. Beef and veal production was 84 thousand tonnes, 3 per cent lower than in April 2011.
Sheep: UK clean sheep slaughterings were slightly lower than in April 2011 at 958 thousand head. Mutton and lamb production was 23 thousand tonnes, virtually unchanged compared to April 2011.

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	February 2012 4 weeks	March 2012 4 weeks	April 2012 5 weeks
Clean Pigs	768	771	934
Sows and Boars	19	21	24
Steers	78	78	98
Heifers	62	60	70
Young Bulls	18	19	25
Cows and Adult Bulls	45	40	50
Other Sheep and Lambs	786	818	958
Ewes and Rams	139	134	158
* 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.

Table 2: UK average dressed carcase weights Kilogramme
United Kingdom	February 2012	March 2012	April 2012
Clean Pigs	79.3	78.8	77.8
Sows and Boars	149.5	148.8	151.6
Steers	370.2	371.3	371.7
Heifers	324.5	324.2	324.5
Young Bulls	348.5	346.4	347.5
Cows and Adult Bulls	319.4	321.5	320.2
Other Sheep and Lambs	19.8	20.1	19.7
Ewes and Rams	25.9	26.4	27.4

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	February 2012 4 weeks	March 2012 4 weeks	April 2012 5 weeks
Pigmeat	64	64	76
Beef	70	68	84
Mutton and Lamb	19	20	23

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	2011									2012
United Kingdom	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr
Clean pigs	177	178	185	187	190	199	199	207	186	188	192	193	187
Sows and boars	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	5	5	5	5
Steers	20	20	18	17	19	22	21	20	17	18	19	20	20
Heifers	15	15	14	13	14	15	15	16	14	15	16	15	14
Young bulls	6	7	8	7	6	6	5	5	4	4	5	5	5
Cows and adult bulls	10	12	12	11	12	13	15	16	11	12	11	10	10
Calves	2	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	1	1	2	2	1
Other Sheep and Lambs	192	180	211	260	279	291	312	284	252	195	196	204	192
Ewes and Rams	34	34	35	39	40	40	45	43	39	34	35	33	32
* Data are confidential

United Kingdom average weekly slaughtering - Pigs

United Kingdom average weekly slaughtering – Cattle

United Kingdom average weekly slaughtering – Sheep

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.

Table 5: UK slaughterings by country Thousand Head
Section 5. UK Slaughterings by Country (thousand head)
	February 2012 4 weeks	March 2012 4 weeks	April 2012 5 weeks
England & Wales
Clean pigs	592	598	724
Sows and boars	19	21	24
Steers	48	49	60
Heifers	37	37	43
Young bulls	12	13	17
Cows and adult bulls	34	31	37
Calves	6	7	5
Other Sheep and Lambs	658	694	820
Ewes and Rams	135	130	153
Scotland
Clean pigs	52	49	58
Sows and boars	0	0	0
Steers	18	18	22
Heifers	15	14	16
Young bulls	2	2	3
Cows and adult bulls	4	4	5
Calves	0	0	0
Other Sheep and Lambs	110	108	119
Ewes and Rams	2	2	2
Great Britain
Clean pigs	644	646	781
Sows and boars	19	21	24
Steers	66	67	82
Heifers	52	51	59
Young bulls	14	15	20
Cows and adult bulls	38	35	42
Calves	6	7	5
Other Sheep and Lambs	768	802	938
Ewes and Rams	137	131	155
Northern Ireland
Clean pigs	124	124	153
Sows and boars	0	0	0
Steers	12	11	15
Heifers	10	9	11
Young bulls	4	4	5
Cows and adult bulls	7	6	7
Calves	0	0	0
Other Sheep and Lambs	18	15	20
Ewes and Rams	3	2	3
*Data are confidential