Germany's pig inventory continues to shrink significantly

According to preliminary data from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), as of May 3, 2023, the pig inventory in Germany stood at 20.7 million head, down 3.1% (-651,800 animals) from November 3, 2022, and down 7.3% (-1.62 million animals) from May 3, 2022. The herd is down 16.1% (-3.99 million animals) compared to two years ago. The downward trend in German pig production is therefore continuing. Never since German unification in 1990 has there been such a low herd size (in 1990 there were 30.8 million animals).

By category, there were 9.5 million finishing pigs in Germany as of May 3, 2023, a decrease of 1.7% (-169,200 animals) compared to half a year earlier. The number of piglets decreased even more significantly, by 5.2% (-330,300 animals) to 6 million. The number of pigs under 50 kg fell by 3.2% (-124,800 animals) to 3.7 million.

In addition, the number of pig farms also continued to decrease. As of May 3, 2023, there were 15,900 pig farms, down 6% (-1,000 farms) from November 3, 2022. Compared to May of the previous year, the number of pig farms has decreased by 10.8% (-1,900) and by 19.3% (-3,800) compared to May 2021.