Live pig imports to Germany in the first eight months of 2026 were slightly below the previous year’s level, according to ISN. While piglet imports remained almost stable, imports of slaughter pigs declined significantly. However, additional deliveries from Denmark could alter the trend for slaughter pigs later in the year.
Live imports of pigs (slaughter pigs and piglets) to Germany from January to August 2026 were slightly below the previous year’s level. A total of 6.99 million pigs were imported, which was 1.0% less than in the same period of the previous year.
Imports of slaughter pigs fell by 6.8% compared to the same period last year, to approximately 490,000 animals. Around 350,000 slaughter pigs, or 7.1% fewer than in the previous year, came from the Netherlands. Deliveries from Belgium also declined, by 26.3% to around 70,000 animals. Approximately 3,000 slaughter pigs were imported from France (-60.5%).
In contrast, deliveries from Denmark increased by 62.6% to approximately 30,000 slaughter pigs. Deliveries up to July were even slightly below the previous year’s level. Since August, however, around 5,000 pigs per week have been transported from Denmark to the Danish Crown facility in Essen (Oldenburg) for slaughter. Danish Crown is thus responding to a significant backlog of pigs in Denmark. According to Danish Crown, a total of approximately 60,000 additional pigs are to be transported from Denmark to Germany for slaughter.
While total imports of slaughter pigs to Germany remained below the previous year’s level until August, the additional deliveries from Denmark could reverse this trend later in the year.
Piglet imports, at 6.50 million animals, were only slightly below the previous year’s level. Compared to the period from January to August 2025, this represents a decrease of 0.5%.
Denmark remained by far the most important supplier with approximately 4.93 million piglets (+0.3% compared to the previous year). Slightly more than three-quarters (76%) of all piglets imported into Germany come from Denmark.
Approximately 1.53 million piglets came from the Netherlands, 4.7% fewer than in the same period of the previous year. Their share of total piglet imports was 23.5%. Denmark and the Netherlands together thus accounted for around 99.3% of German piglet imports.
Although piglet deliveries from Belgium and France increased significantly in percentage terms, they still play only a minor role in absolute quantities for the German market as a whole.
