Chapter 6
Cattle & Beef Statistics
Summary
- People keep about 1,300,000,000 beef cattle worldwide (this excludes dairy cattle) (Table 1).
- Over half the world's beef cattle live in three countries: India, Brazil and China (Table 1).
- People kill about 300 million beef cattle annually worldwide (Table 2).
- Half the world's beef cattle are killed in three countries: India, Brazil and China (Table 2).
- The total number of beef cattle people kill worldwide is increasing by about four million annually (Table 2).
Beef Cattle People Keep
Table 1. Number of Beef Cattle People Keep Worldwide.
Top ten countries & Worldwide, 2003 to 2008.
Figures are in millions. |
| |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
| India |
341 |
339 |
339 |
339 |
339 |
339 |
| Brazil |
206 |
212 |
218 |
226 |
235 |
245 |
| China Republic |
182 |
189 |
195 |
198 |
199 |
202 |
| United States |
124 |
132 |
133 |
134 |
134 |
134 |
| European Union - 27 |
125 |
123 |
122 |
120 |
119 |
118 |
| Argentina |
65 |
66 |
65 |
65 |
67 |
67 |
| Australia |
37 |
37 |
37 |
38 |
38 |
38 |
| Mexico |
36 |
36 |
35 |
35 |
34 |
34 |
| Russian Federation |
32 |
31 |
29 |
27 |
26 |
26 |
| Canada |
19 |
20 |
20 |
20 |
19 |
19 |
| Others |
102 |
98 |
94 |
94 |
92 |
85 |
| World Total |
1,280 |
1,282 |
1,288 |
1,297 |
1,304 |
1,307 |
Source: based on 'Live Cattle Selected Countries Summary'. 'Total Cattle Beginning Stocks' plus 'Production (Calf Crop)' In Livestock and Poultry: World Markets and Trade. United States Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service. www.fas.usda.gov. (Web site accessed February 2008.)
Beef Cattle People Kill
Table 2. Number of Beef Cattle People Kill Worldwide.
Top ten countries & Worldwide, 2003 to 2008.
Figures are in millions. |
| |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
| China |
52 |
54 |
57 |
58 |
60 |
62 |
| Brazil |
45 |
46 |
48 |
52 |
54 |
58 |
| India |
55 |
56 |
56 |
57 |
57 |
57 |
| United State |
38 |
38 |
38 |
38 |
37 |
37 |
| European Union - 27 |
33 |
32 |
32 |
30 |
30 |
30 |
| Argentina |
14 |
15 |
15 |
16 |
15 |
15 |
| Australia |
9 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
| Mexico |
7 |
7 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
| Russian Federation |
9 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
7 |
7 |
| Canada |
6 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
| Others |
24 |
23 |
23 |
23 |
23 |
21 |
| World Total |
292 |
296 |
301 |
304 |
308 |
312 |
Source: based on Live Cattle Selected Countries Summary. Production (Calf Crop). In Livestock and Poultry: World Markets and Trade. United States Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service. www.fas.usda.gov. (Web site accessed February 2008.)
Notes for the Tables
The source for these tables is the USDA (see the footnotes below both Tables), who state their data are based on “USDA-FAS attache reports, official statistics, and results of office research.” USDA say the cattle are adults and calves raised for meat and exclude dairy cattle but include buffalo in India.
USDA data included two classes of cattle:
‘Total Beginning Stocks’ and
‘Production Crop’. Total Beginning Stocks are the animals alive at the start of the year and most of these animals are used to breed the Production Crop for the year. Virtually all the Production Stock is killed for food (some would replace Beginning Stock). The figures in Table 1 include both categories. Cattle numbers in Table 2 are only the
‘Production Crop’.
The World Total in both tables is a minimum figure. One reason for this is that the original USDA data do not include every country, although they do include the world’s major animal producing countries. Furthermore, the USDA figures are based on cattle who are officially counted (for example, at farms and slaughterhouses); cattle slaughtered outside official premises may not be counted. For example, non-walking cattle (that is “non-ambulatory” cattle, too injured to walk) may be killed before they get to the slaughterhouse and are not counted. In the US alone, non-walking cattle totalled 465,000 in 2003, including 185,000 calves, and 450,000 in 2004, including 180,000 calves (‘calves’ in this case are cattle under 230 kg / 500 lbs).
Livestock are impossible to count accurately. Therefore the figures in both tables are rounded to the nearest million to avoid spurious accuracy and totals do not necessarily add up exactly.
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