Inside Pigs
Spanish pig herd sets new record
The number of pigs in Spain has increased further, which means that the country is further out on Germany, where the pig herd is shrinking. This is shown by figures from Eurostat.
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In May, Spain had 31,7 million pigs. Compared to the same count a year earlier, this is an increase of 3%. The number of breeding sows grew by 0,8% to 2,5 million. This means that the growth that the Spanish pig herd has shown for a number of years in a row continues steadily.
Spain is now by far the largest pig country in Europe. In the past, Germany had that honor, but due to the shrinkage of our eastern neighbors, this is no longer the case. Germany had 25,3 million pigs this spring, a decline of more than 2% compared to 2019. The decline is expected to continue in the coming years, making the difference with Spain even greater.
Growth in Poland
What is also striking about the figures is the strong growth in Denmark. For the first time in years, Eurostat reports more than 13 million pigs in the country. In May, the Netherlands still had just under 12 million pigs, which has been the rule of thumb in terms of animal numbers in our country for years.
In view of the restructuring of pig farming, 2020 is probably the last time that such numbers can be achieved. The chance that we will be surpassed by Poland in terms of numbers in the coming years is considerable. The number of pigs there grew by no less than 5,8% to 11,4 million. In Belgium and France, the pig population, with 6 and 13,2 million animals respectively, shows a stable picture.
Meanwhile, spring counts have been published in 12 of the 13 EU member states, which account for more than 90% of the number of pigs. There has been a slight increase from 1,63 million pigs to 131 million.