Over the past two decades, the number of sows in the EU has fallen by 32%, with Germany, France and Poland being the worst affected countries.

Between 2004 and 2024, the number of sows in the EU dropped sharply from 15.02 million to 10.15 million, a drop of 32.4% (a decrease of more than 4.8 million). However, total pork production remained stable during the same period - the output was 21.1 million tons in 2004 and is expected to be 21.04 million tons in 2024, almost the same.

Spain grows against the trend

Among the 27 EU member states, Spain is the only country to achieve an increase in the number of sows (a slight increase from 2.606 million to 2.611 million). Its pork production has surged by 60% (from 3.08 million tons to 4.92 million tons), and it has been the largest pork producer in the EU since 2021.

There is a clear divergence among major producing countries.

Germany: The number of pigs on hand plummeted by 43% (from 2.47 million to 1.39 million)

Denmark: A decrease of 17% (from 1.4 million to 1.16 million)

France: A decrease of 36% (from 1.29 million to 830,000)

Netherlands: A decrease of 30% (from 1.12 million to 783,000)

Poland: A "cliff-like" drop of 63% (from 1.65 million to 600,000)

The declines in Italy (-17.6%) and Portugal (-15.7%) were lower than the EU average.