The country’s annual sheep kill is running almost half a million head behind the equivalent figure for 2024, new Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show.

The period of January to October 2025 saw 19.6% fewer sheep slaughtered compared with the same months of last year, equating to a fall of 480,000 head.

The year-to-date declining sheep throughput trend was mirrored when looking at the CSO figures reported for the month of October alone, when the month saw an almost identical 19.7% drop in factory numbers.

Cattle throughput

The trends reported for processor cattle throughput also show a decrease in 2025’s slaughterings.

There were just under 11% fewer cattle reported as having been sent to a factory between January and October 2025 compared with the same timeframe a year earlier.

This decline represents a shortfall of 172,000 head.

The decrease in 2025 compared with 2024 was even starker when looking just at the month of October, when the drop amounted to 27.9% in factory throughput.

Pigs

The number of pigs slaughtered in the first 10 months of 2025 increased by 2.5% on the equivalent window of last year, with October’s kill rising by a stronger 3.1%.