How many cattle and pigs in the Netherlands?
Dutch farms kept 3.8 million heads of cattle and 11.3 million pigs on 1 April 2022. Nearly half of all Dutch cattle are dairy cows and most pigs are bred for meat.
At 1.6 million, the number of dairy cows was around the same in 2022 as twelve months previously. The number of dairy youngstock did increase, to 982 thousand. Female youngstock are reared to become dairy cows. Sûdwest-Fryslân is the municipality with the most cows: 65.6 thousand.
Large dairy farms in Flevoland
Last year, there were 14.7 thousand dairy farms in the Netherlands, with an average 107 dairy cows per farm. The largest farms were located in the province of Flevoland, with 151 dairy cows on average.
Over 1 million calves were raised for meat consumption in 2022. This is nearly the same number as one year previously.
| Perioden | Dairy and calving cows (2 yrs and over) | Young dairy cattle | Young beef cattle | Veal calves | Other bovines | Bulls (2 yrs and over) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.57 | 0.98 | 0.17 | 1.04 | 0.05 | 0.01 |
| 2021 | 1.57 | 0.97 | 0.17 | 1.05 | 0.06 | 0.01 |
| 2020 | 1.59 | 0.94 | 0.17 | 1.07 | 0.06 | 0.01 |
| 2019 | 1.58 | 0.92 | 0.17 | 1.07 | 0.06 | 0.01 |
| 2018 | 1.62 | 1.03 | 0.17 | 1.02 | 0.06 | 0.01 |
| 2017 | 1.69 | 1.20 | 0.17 | 0.95 | 0.06 | 0.02 |
Slightly fewer pigs
The number of pigs fell to 11.3 million in 2022, 1.6 percent down on one year previously. Porkers (46 percent) and piglets (45 percent) account for the majority of the Dutch pig population; the remainder are breeding sows.
Nearly 3.3 thousand Dutch farms kept pigs in 2022, 4 percent fewer than the year before. The average number of pigs per farm has risen by nearly 20 percent in the last five years, to 3.4 thousand. The reason for this is that smaller farms have stopped rearing pigs in recent years.
| Perioden | Fattening pigs | Piglets | Breeding pigs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5.16 | 5.12 | 1.00 |
| 2021 | 5.26 | 5.17 | 1.03 |
| 2020 | 5.45 | 5.41 | 1.09 |
| 2019 | 5.62 | 5.55 | 1.10 |
| 2018 | 5.63 | 5.65 | 1.15 |
| 2017 | 5.63 | 5.61 | 1.16 |
Noord-Brabant has most pigs
Nearly half of all Dutch pigs are located in Noord-Brabant. Although the number of pig farms has fallen by one third in the last five years, the number of pigs has decreased by less. The municipalities Land van Cuijk (682 thousand) and Venray (559 thousand) had the most pigs.
Source
StatLine – Agriculture; crops, livestock and land use by general farm type, region
The questions
- What keeps people from eating healthier?
- What is working people’s income?
- How much of the energy we consume is renewable?
- What percentage wears glasses?
- How are the dragonflies and butterflies doing?
- How many housing units are there?
- How does home burglary affect people?
- In what occupations do most people work from home?
- How much more expensive did food get?
- How many babies were born to unmarried mothers?
- From which countries do most immigrants come?
- How many centenarians are there?
- How do fathers and mothers divide work and care?
- How many cars are there?
- How much milk does a cow produce?
- What portion of income went to food in 1936?
- How many pigs were there in 1910?
- How many cattle and pigs in the Netherlands?
- What do we import from China?
- What type of shop is seen less and less?
- How many nights are spent in Dutch hotels?
- How often do older people have contact with neighbours?
- How many adults comply with the physical activity guidelines?
- Where do international students in the Netherlands come from?
- What are the major religions?
- How many litres of water do we use per day?
- How many millionaires in the Netherlands?
- How many inhabitants in the Netherlands??
- Where can we ride our bikes?
- At what age do workers retire?
- Which day has the most birthdays?
- How many people have a student debt?
- How does CBS handle your privacy?