Pig supply in EU grows for second consecutive year

Pig production in the European Union (EU) is on the rise again. Data supplied by the European Commission have shown that 76.14 million pigs got slaughtered in the first 4 months of 2025, which is an increase of 1.5%. Year-on-year that means more than 1 million more pigs; and even nearly 3 million more than in 2023.

In recent years, production peaked in 2021, with almost 84 million pigs slaughtered in the EU member states. The peak coincided with the coronavirus pandemic, which had caused major slaughter backlogs in 2020.

The average carcass weight has also been increasing in recent months. So far, the carcass weight of slaughtered pigs has amounted to 7.46 million tons in 2025, signifying an increase of 3.2% year-on-year increase.

Spain has won the competition of EU’s largest pig producer by a landslide. Between January and April 2025, Spain slaughtered 19.04 million pigs (up from 18.28 million pigs in 2024). Germany comes second, with 15.06 million pigs slaughtered in the first 4 months of 2025.

When zooming in at percentages, production has been growing most strongly in the east of the EU: in Bulgaria and Romania, by 14.2% and 12.3% respectively. Both Poland and Hungary saw production increase by 3.9% this year. Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands on the other hand, are among the countries where pig production is declining.

The decline in the Dutch pig supply comes as no surprise. The effects of the cessation scheme are becoming increasingly apparent. According to Dutch national statistics, the Dutch pig herd is, for the 1st time in 50 years, below 10 million animals. Provisional figures have shown that the pig inventory shrunk by more than 5%, to 9.96 million.

Tags: European Union, Production, Pigs