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As of May 3, 2026, there were 14,700 pig farms in Germany. According to preliminary results from the livestock census released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the number of pig farms decreased by 3.2% (-490 farms) compared to November 3, 2025. Compared to the previous year (May 3, 2025), the number of farms fell by 3.6% (-550 farms), and over the past ten years, it has declined by 40.0% (-9,800 farms since 2016).
As of May 3, 2026, the number of pigs in Germany stood at approximately 21.0 million. Compared to November 3, 2025, the herd declined by 2.3% or 501,400 animals; however, compared to the previous year, it rose slightly by 0.6% or 131,100 animals. Over the past ten years, the pig inventory has declined significantly by 22.5% (-6.1 million animals since 2016). This confirms the ongoing trend toward larger operations: While in 2016, a farm kept an average of about 1,100 pigs, ten years later the average was about 1,400 animals per farm.
As for the individual categories of pigs, as of May 3, 2026, there were 9.0 million finishing pigs in Germany. That is 2.5% fewer than on November 3, 2025 (-228,500 animals). This trend is also confirmed when compared to the previous year. Here, the decline was 4.2% (-394,300 animals). The number of piglets and young pigs stood at 10.6 million animals in May 2026, representing a decline since November 2025 (-2.3% or -255,400 animals). However, compared to the previous year, there was a 5.1% increase (+515,300 animals). The number of breeding sows in May 2026, at 1.4 million, was 0.9% lower than in November 2025 (-12,300 animals) and 0.9% higher (+12,700 animals) than in May 2026.
June 26, 2026/ Destatis/ Germany.
https://www.destatis.de
