Fewer animals slaughtered in 2022

Last year, 2 per cent fewer animals were slaughtered in Belgium than in 2021. The decline was noticeable for all animal categories (except goats). With a 9 per cent drop, the number of pigs slaughtered dropped to its lowest level in 30 years.

Biggest drop for pigs

With a 9% drop, pig slaughterings plunged even lower than in the crisis year of 2019. In fact, never in the last 30 years were fewer pigs slaughtered. Yet pigs still shed the biggest weight. At just over 1 billion kilograms, they accounted for 60 per cent of the total weight slaughtered in our country in 2022.

Cattle continue downward trend

The number of cattle slaughtered has been following a downward trend since 2017, and it was no different with a new decline of 2 per cent in 2022. Since the beginning of the 1981 measurements, cattle slaughtered were never so reduced: 755,000 in 2022, or 63,000 per month.

Chickens largest in number

Pigs may take the largest share by weight, but in terms of numbers, chickens are the gluttons. No fewer than 298 million were slaughtered in 2022. Despite the 2 per cent drop, that is a multiple of the first pursuer: 10.5 million pigs. This was followed by cattle, turkeys, sheep, ducks, goats and horses. In total, just under 310 million animals were slaughtered in our country in 2022.