EU pig herd 2018: - 1.0%, Germany -4.1%, Spain + 3.9% - fewer sows The EU has compiled the most recent pig stock numbers 2018 in each Member State. Throughout the EU , stocks are down by 1% to almost 149 million . Pigs declined, but developments in individual countries are very different. Pig numbers are falling in 14 Member States. Strong declines were recorded in Germany with -4.1% and just under 26.4 million, respectively. Pigs detected. In the Netherlands , the numbers are constantly declining for years due to the high environmental impact. For the year 2018, approx . -3% fewer animals compared to the previous year. The Dutch stock remains below the 12 million mark. In Poland , there were -7.4% fewer pigs or approx. 11 million .In Romania, the stock shrank by -8.7% to approx. 4 million animals. Both countries are burdened by the ASP problem. 2018 more pigs than in the previous year were counted in 12 EU Member States . The Spanish livestock in particular is growing by + 3.9% to 31.1 million pigs . Spain has managed to increase its pig production by 26% in the last 8 years, putting it in first place in the EU. France's pig population has increased only modestly (+1%) over the last 8 years. For 2018, however, a jump of + 2.7% has been noted. Belgium also increased its pig numbers by 1.7% to 6.2 million . Animals. The EU sow herds are 2018 by approx. -3% smaller and reach only 11.8 million breeding animals.In just 5 countries with a focus on Spain ( + 1.9%), France (+2%) and Hungary (+3.2%) , even more breeding stock is reported. The highest decrease rates are seen in Poland with -18% as a result of low-cost small stocks. Hollands Sauenhaltung is shrinking by approx. -9%. Germany has reduced its sowing numbers by 3.8% to 1.8 million animals. Denmark also has -1.3% less sows. As a result, fewer piglets are available for export to the traditional pig exporting countries NL and DK . Germany as the largest piglet import area with 20% import demand will feel this. A decrease in sow numbers can be partially compensated by higher weaning performance. Assuming the current decline in EU sows by 350.000 breeding animals with an average of 22 piglets per sow results in a misuse of approx. 7.7 million piglets . An average increase in productivity of 0.2 piglets per sow and year, in turn, increases the piglet supply in the current EU sow stock of 11.8 million sows by 2.36 million piglets . The result of stock reduction and performance increase provides a lower piglet supply of approx. 5.5 million animals. As a result, with little change in slaughter weights, a reduction in EU pigmeat production in 2019 tends to be inevitable.
