February 14, 2022

Germany sees 2.4 % drop in slaughterhouse production

Germany's slaughterhouses produced 7.6 million tonnes of meat in 2021, down 2.4% from the previous year, based on preliminary results from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).

Meat production has seen a downward trend since 2017. In 2021, a total of 56.2 million head of pigs, cattle, sheep, goats and horses and 668.7 million chickens, turkeys and ducks were slaughtered in German slaughterhouses.

For swine, 51.8 million head were slaughtered in Germany in 2021, a decrease of 2.9% compared to the previous year. The number of domestic pigs slaughtered fell by 0.8% to 50.6 million animals. The number of pigs slaughtered that were imported to German farms fell by 49% to 1.2 million animals.

Total pork production reached almost five million tonnes, down 2.9% compared to 2020. Hence, pork production fell for the fifth consecutive year (-11% compared to 2016 volume).

- Destatis (Germany)