Live cattle trade fell, but beef exports increased by almost one and a half times

By: STA Date: 2025. 08. 19. 11:00

According to AKI slaughter statistics, in the period January-June 2025, cattle slaughter in live weight increased by almost 33 percent compared to the amount in January-June 2024. Cow slaughter, which accounts for more than half of all slaughter, increased by 10.5 percent, and heifer slaughter by 15.6 percent.

(Photo: Pixabay)

According to KSH data, Hungary’s live cattle exports decreased by 47 percent (19.5 thousand tons) and their value by 33.4 percent in the first six months of 2025 compared to January-June 2024. The main partners were Croatia, Poland, Kosovo and Austria. Hungary’s live cattle imports decreased by 74.6 percent (3 thousand tons) and their value by 69.4 percent compared to a year earlier. Almost half of the live cattle came from the Czech Republic and Latvia. The volume of beef exports increased by 48.5 percent (5.7 thousand tons). The volume of beef imports decreased by 12.1 percent (6.3 thousand tons), while its value increased by 18 percent in the observed period. According to AKI PÁIR data, the producer price of slaughter cattle continued to increase in weeks 1–32 of 2025: per kilogram of carcass warm weight, the producer price of a young bull was HUF 2028, that of a slaughter heifer HUF 1325 and that of a slaughter cow HUF 1403.

AKI PÁIR