Hungary hog number falls significantly

The number of hogs raised in Hungary is around 3.2 million, falling considerably from around 5 million in 2004, the year of the country's EU accession.

According to Meat Product Council (VHT) secretary Laszlo Mencze, many breeders have given up hog farming after the EU's animal-welfare and environmental requirements became compulsory for Hungarian farmers as well, which some of them were unable to meet for lack of funds. The current number of hogs raised in Hungary is sufficient to satisfy the country's annual demand for pork.

Meat companies still slaughter around 4.2-4.3 million hogs per year. Between 800,000 and one million live hogs are imported in order to maintain exports and retain export markets.

Menczel said that in order to improve the situation, the current 30-70% proportion of livestock breeding to crop production within Hungary's agricultural sector should be modified and the percentage of black economy within the sector should be curbed from the current 25-30%, while the national market should be protected and the sector's annual subsidies of around HUF10 billion maintained.