UK Slaughter Statistics - January 2011

UK - The latest National Statistics produced by Defra on UK slaughterings show that the number of cattle slaughtered in December 2010, remained consistent with 2009 data.
calendar icon 21 January 2011
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Key points

  • Cattle: UK prime cattle slaughterings for December 2010 were 189,000 head with beef and veal production at 83,000 tonnes.
  • Pigs: UK clean pig slaughterings for December 2010 were 896,000 head with pig meat production at 72,000 tonnes.

Note that December 2010 is a five-week statistical month and therefore data are not comparable with December 2009.

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
United Kingdom October 2010
5 weeks
November 2010
4 weeks
December 2010
5 weeks
Steers 109 85 89
Heifers 77 66 73
Young Bulls 32 25 27
Cows and Adult Bulls 65 62 55
Calves 10 7 7
Clean Pigs 950 786 896
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 web site by clicking here.

Table 2. UK average dressed carcase weights
Kilogramme
United Kingdom October 2010 November 2010 December 2010
Steers 363.2 362.5 366.1
Heifers 318.9 318.4 322.4
Young Bulls 344.5 343.3 342.7
Cows and Adult Bulls 314.7 314.2 314.7
Calves 39.9 41.4 43.4
Clean Pigs 79.4 79.1 77.3
Sows and Boars 158.9 153.9 154.3

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 October 2010
5 weeks
November 2010
4 weeks
December 2010
5 weeks
Beef 96 80 83
Pig meat 79 65 72

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 2009 2010
Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Steers 18 17 19 20 20 19 18 18 18 21 22 21 18
Heifers 15 14 16 16 15 14 14 13 13 14 15 17 15
Young Bulls 5 5 5 6 6 7 8 8 8 7 6 6 5
Cows and Adult Bulls 10 9 11 10 9 9 9 10 10 11 13 16 11
Calves 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 1
Clean Pigs 180 169 176 177 172 174 171 171 181 184 190 197 179
Sows and Boars 4 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)
  October 2010
5 weeks
November 2010
4 weeks
December 2010
5 weeks
England & Wales
Steers 64 52 55
Heifers 44 39 42
Young Bulls 22 18 18
Cows and Adult Bulls 49 46 41
Calves 9 7 6
Clean Pigs 736 608 698
Sows and Boars * * *
Scotland
Steers 24 19 21
Heifers 19 16 20
Young Bulls 4 3 3
Cows and Adult Bulls 6 6 5
Calves 0 0 0
Clean Pigs 57 47 54
Sows and Boars 0 0 0
Great Britain
Steers 87 70 76
Heifers 63 56 62
Young Bulls 26 21 21
Cows and Adult Bulls 55 52 47
Calves 9 7 6
Clean Pigs 793 654 753
Sows and Boars * * *
Northern Ireland
Steers 22 14 13
Heifers 13 11 11
Young Bulls 6 5 6
Cows and Adult Bulls 10 10 8
Calves 1 0 0
Clean Pigs 157 132 143
Sows and Boars 1 1 1
*Data are confidential

Further Reading

- You can view the full report by clicking here.

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