The latest EU spring livestock census shows a 1% decline in pig numbers across the eleven Member States surveyed so far, while the sow population remains broadly stable.
Significant differences persist between countries, with Spain and the Netherlands reporting declines in total pig numbers, while Denmark recorded an increase. Following the difficult market conditions seen across Europe this summer, analysts expect a sharper contraction to become visible in the autumn census.
Eurostat has released the results of the spring livestock census from most major EU pig-producing countries. Data has so far been published for eleven Member States, although not all EU countries conduct a spring census.
Among the larger Member States that usually participate, figures for France and Italy are currently still missing.
A total of 100.1 million pigs were counted in the eleven Member States surveyed, representing a 1.0% decrease compared with the previous year.
The number of sows, however, remained largely stable at 7.82 million animals, an increase of just 0.1% year-on-year.
Pig populations show contrasting trends across the EU
Spain, by far the largest pig-producing country in the EU, recorded a 2.0% decrease in its pig population, to 33.10 million pigs.
The decline was considerably stronger in the Netherlands, where 9.19 million pigs were counted, representing a 6.8% decrease compared with the previous year.
Denmark moved in the opposite direction, with its pig population increasing by 2.5% to 12.19 million animals.
However, the Danish figures should be interpreted with some caution. At the time of the census, some pigs ready for slaughter were backed up on farms as their collection for slaughter had been delayed.
Pig populations in Germany and Poland remained largely unchanged.
Germany counted 21.04 million pigs, up 0.6% compared with the previous year, while Poland recorded 9.12 million animals, an increase of 0.9%.
Sow population remains stable overall
A total of 7.82 million sows were kept in the eleven countries surveyed, representing a marginal year-on-year increase of 0.1%.
However, developments differed significantly between individual countries.
Spain recorded a 2.6% increase in its sow population, reaching 2.68 million animals.
Germany also reported a slight increase, with sow numbers rising 0.9% to 1.41 million.
In Poland, the sow population remained unchanged at 614,000 animals.
Denmark recorded a slight reduction in sow numbers for the first time in a long period. At 1.14 million animals, the country’s sow population was 0.9% lower than a year earlier.
The decline remained considerably stronger in the Netherlands, where sow numbers fell by 5.7% to 748,000 animals.
Further decline expected in the autumn census
The spring census provides an important indication of future developments in the European pig sector.
However, the current results remain incomplete, as data from France and Italy – two of the larger Member States that usually participate in the spring census – has not yet been published.
The Danish figures also remain subject to some uncertainty because of the unusually high number of slaughter-ready pigs still being kept on farms at the time of the census.
Following the difficult price period experienced across the EU this summer, many market analysts expect pig numbers to decline more significantly in the autumn census.
The European Commission has also forecast lower pig slaughter volumes in the EU during the second half of 2026 compared with the same period of the previous year.
