UK Slaughter Statistics - April 2011

UK - The latest National Statistics produced by Defra on UK slaughterings of cattle, sheep and pigs were released on 21 April 2011, according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.
calendar icon 27 April 2011
clock icon 4 minute read

Key points:

  • Cattle: UK prime cattle slaughterings were 4 per cent higher than in March 2010 at 172 thousand head. Beef and veal production was 74 thousand tonnes, 5 per cent higher than in March 2010.
  • Pigs: UK clean pig slaughterings were 8 per cent higher than in March 2010 at 763 thousand head. Pigmeat production was 63 thousand tonnes, a rise of 8 per cent on March 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 January 2011
5 weeks
February 2011
4 weeks
March 2011
4 weeks
Steers 99 80 84
Heifers 83 68 65
Young Bulls 28 22 23
Cows and Adult Bulls 68 49 44
Calves 7 7 8
Clean Pigs 905 769 763
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.

Table 2: UK average dressed carcase weights
Kilogramme
United Kingdom January 2011 February 2011 March 2010
Steers 367.2 368.1 369.2
Heifers 323.1 322.8 321.4
Young Bulls 344.6 340.3 339.2
Cows and Adult Bulls 316.2 321.3 320.3
Calves 48.2 39.3 38.6
Clean Pigs 79.2 79.7 79.0
Sows and Boars 153.4 143.4 145.5

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 January 2011
4 weeks
February 2011
4 weeks
March 2011
4 weeks
Beef 95 75 74
Pigmeat 75 64 63

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
Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
Steers 20 20 19 18 18 18 21 22 21 18 20 20 21
Heifers 16 15 14 14 13 13 14 15 17 15 17 17 16
Young Bulls 6 6 7 8 8 8 7 6 6 5 6 6 6
Cows and Adult Bulls 10 9 9 9 10 10 11 13 16 11 14 12 11
Calves 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 2 2
Clean Pigs 177 172 174 171 171 181 184 190 197 179 181 192 191
Sows and Boars 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)
  January 2011
5 weeks
February 2011
4 weeks
March 2011
4 weeks
England & Wales
Steers 60 48 51
Heifers 48 39 39
Young Bulls 18 15 16
Cows and Adult Bulls 52 37 34
Calves 6 7 8
Clean Pigs 697 598 593
Sows and Boars * * *
Scotland
Steers 22 19 20
Heifers 20 16 16
Young Bulls 3 2 2
Cows and Adult Bulls 6 4 4
Calves 0 0 0
Clean Pigs 52 48 49
Sows and Boars 0 0 0
Great Britain
Steers 82 66 71
Heifers 69 55 54
Young Bulls 21 17 18
Cows and Adult Bulls 58 41 38
Calves 6 7 8
Clean Pigs 749 646 642
Sows and Boars * * *
Northern Ireland
Steers 16 14 13
Heifers 15 12 11
Young Bulls 7 5 5
Cows and Adult Bulls 10 8 6
Calves 1 0 0
Clean Pigs 157 123 122
Sows and Boars 1 1 1
*Data are confidential

Further Reading

- You can view the full report by clicking here.

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