UK Slaughter Statistics - February 2011

UK - The latest National Statistics produced by Defra on UK slaughterings of cattle, sheep and pigs were released today, 24 February 2011, according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.
calendar icon 24 February 2011
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Key points

  • Pigs: UK clean pig slaughterings were 7 per cent higher than in January 2010 at 906 thousand head. Pigmeat production was 75 thousand tonnes, a rise of 8 per cent on January 2010.
  • Cattle: UK prime cattle slaughterings were 15 per cent higher than in January 2010 at 209 thousand head. Beef and veal production was 94 thousand tonnes, 20 per cent higher than in January 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 November 2010
4 weeks
December 2010
5 weeks
January 2011
5 weeks
Steers 85 89 99
Heifers 67 73 83
Young Bulls 25 27 28
Cows and Adult Bulls 63 54 67
Calves 7 6 7
Clean Pigs 790 896 906
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 November 2010 December 2010 January 2011
Steers 362.5 366.0 367.2
Heifers 318.4 322.4 323.1
Young Bulls 343.3 342.9 344.6
Cows and Adult Bulls 314.1 314.8 316.2
Calves 41.3 44.1 48.3
Clean Pigs 79.1 77.3 79.2
Sows and Boars 153.9 154.3 153.4

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 November 2010
4 weeks
December 2010
5 weeks
January 2011
4 weeks
Beef 81 83 94
Pigmeat 66 72 75

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
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan
Steers 17 19 20 20 19 18 18 18 21 22 21 18 20
Heifers 14 16 16 15 14 14 13 13 14 15 17 15 17
Young Bulls 5 5 6 6 7 8 8 8 7 6 6 5 6
Cows and Adult Bulls 9 11 10 9 9 9 10 10 11 13 16 11 13
Calves 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 1
Clean Pigs 169 176 177 172 174 171 171 181 184 190 197 179 181
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)
  November 2010
4 weeks
December 2010
5 weeks
January 2011
5 weeks
England & Wales
Steers 52 55 60
Heifers 39 42 48
Young Bulls 18 18 18
Cows and Adult Bulls 46 41 51
Calves 7 6 6
Clean Pigs 611 698 697
Sows and Boars * * *
Scotland
Steers 19 21 22
Heifers 16 20 20
Young Bulls 3 3 3
Cows and Adult Bulls 6 5 6
Calves 0 0 0
Clean Pigs 47 54 52
Sows and Boars 0 0 0
Great Britain
Steers 71 76 83
Heifers 56 61 68
Young Bulls 21 21 21
Cows and Adult Bulls 53 46 57
Calves 7 6 6
Clean Pigs 658 752 749
Sows and Boars * * *
Northern Ireland
Steers 14 14 16
Heifers 11 11 15
Young Bulls 5 6 7
Cows and Adult Bulls 10 8 10
Calves 0 0 1
Clean Pigs 132 143 157
Sows and Boars 1 1 1
*Data are confidential

Further Reading

- You can view the full report by clicking here.
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