Sheep kill down 16% in first five month of 2025 - CSO

The number of sheep slaughtered declined by 16.4% in the first five months of 2025, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The sheep kill between January and May 2025 fell by 191,000 head to 973,000 when compared with the same period in 2024.

The number of sheep slaughtered in May 2025 alone was down 13.2% to 186,000 head when compared with the same month in 2024.

Cattle kill

Further analysis of the data shows that between January and May 2025, cattle slaughterings contracted to 777,000 head, a decrease of 12,000 (-1.6%) when compared with the same period in 2024.

Cattle slaughterings also decreased by 10.6% to 135,000 head in May 2025 when compared with May 2024.

Meanwhile, the number of pigs slaughtered in May 2025 declined by 0.8% to 285,000 head when compared with May 2024.

However, the pig kill is up over 22,000 head (+1.6%) between January and May 2025 compared with the same period in 2024.