Census May 2021: Pig population in Germany continues to decline As of May 3, 2021, 24.6 million pigs were kept in Germany. According to preliminary results, the number of pigs has fallen by 5.5% or 1.4 million animals since the last survey on November 3, 2020. The November 2020 count was strongly influenced by the traffic jam among slaughter pigs. Compared to the census on May 3, 2020, the number has decreased by 3.3% or 0.84 million animals. The number of pig farms fell by -3.3% to 19,800 units. After the 4.5% decline in the number of sows in autumn 2020, a further 3.9% fewer sows were counted on the occasion of the May 2021 census. In a year-round comparison, there are -8.3% fewer or 1.63 million breeding pigs in German stables. That is barely enough for 40 million pigs a year compared to 10 years earlier with around 50 million animals.In the weight groups of fattening pigs, an above-average decline in piglets (-7.2%) and young pigs (-5.6%) can be observed compared to the previous year's census in May. From this, low numbers of slaughter pigs can be deduced in the coming weeks and months. In the individual federal states, the counting results are very different compared to May of the previous year. In the largest production area of Lower Saxony , the total decline in the number of pigs is only -2.7%, while an increase of +2.1% was determined for sows. The gilts that are not yet pregnant stand out with an increase of + 10.6%. In the second largest production area in North Rhine-Westphalia , sows and fattening populations are falling by 3.7 to 3.9%. The number of gilts not yet pregnant falls by 18%.Above-average population reductions can be observed in Thuringia (-19%), Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (-13.9%), Brandenburg (-13%), Saxony (-11.7%) in a year-round comparison. The reduction in the number of sows in Brandenburg (-22%), in Thuringia (-15%) and in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (-14.5%) are particularly large. In the southwestern German federal states, Baden-Württemberg with a population decline of -8.4 or -9.5% for sows, Rhineland-Palatinate with -5.9% and -9% for sows, Hesse with -7.8% or -6.7% for sows in a year-round comparison. After the sharp drop in the number of sows in autumn 2020 (-7.4%), the number of sows in Bavaria remained unchanged in May 2021, but they are still well below previous average results.
