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The decrease in pig numbers identified in the spring of 2022 continued at the end of 2022, according to the Lower Saxony State Statistics Office (LSN) based on preliminary results from November 2022. Compared to November 2021 (7.8 million animals) there was an 8.9% decrease to 7.1 million pigs, which is the lowest inventory in ten years. Compared to November 2012, the herd shrank by nearly 21.6%.
The number of breeding sows decreased disproportionally (-16.0%) compared to the same month last year. In November 2022, there were still around 359,800 breeding sows. The number of piglets fell by 11.0% year-on-year to around 1.8 million animals.
While around 7,800 farms still kept pigs in 2012, the number has almost halved in the span of ten years to around 4,200 farms (as of November 2022). Compared to November 2021, about 500 farms in Lower Saxony stopped keeping pigs. On the other hand, the average farm size has increased. For example, the number increased from around 1,052 pigs per farm in 2012 to 1,684 animals per farm in November 2022. As in other areas of agriculture, there is a trend toward fewer but larger farms.
December 9, 2022/ Lower Saxony State Statistics Office/ Germany.
https://www.statistik.niedersachsen.de/
