Changing meat market: more cattle and pigs, less poultry processed in the first half of 2025

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 09. 03. 11:45

🎧 Hallgasd a cikket: Nyelv: Sebesség: 1.05×

In the first six months of 2025, 50.3 thousand cattle were slaughtered in Hungarian slaughterhouses, a 26.1 percent increase compared to the same period of the previous year, according to the latest report by the Agricultural Economics Institute (AKI). A total of 2 million 417 thousand pigs were processed, 85 thousand more than a year earlier (+3.6%). Meanwhile, the number of poultry slaughtered fell by 4.1 percent to 113.7 million, reports Agrárszektor.

The live weight of the slaughtered cattle was 27.1 thousand tons, while the carcass weight was 14.6 thousand tons, representing increases of 33 and 38 percent, respectively. More than half of the slaughtered animals were cows (53%), and one-third were bulls (32%). Bull slaughter in particular surged, nearly doubling (+98.6%). Exports, however, declined: shipments of 19.5 thousand tons dropped by 47 percent, while imports fell by 75 percent. The main export markets were Croatia, Poland, and Kosovo.

Pig slaughter amounted to 291.4 thousand tons of live weight and 234.2 thousand tons of carcass weight, both nearly 5 percent higher than a year earlier. The slaughter of sows rose by 21.5 percent. At the same time, live pig trade volumes fell significantly: exports dropped by 21 percent and imports by 48 percent, though imports (19.2 thousand tons) still exceeded exports (13.3 thousand tons). The pig herd increased to 2.85 million head, 3.8 percent higher than in June 2024.

Poultry slaughter produced 349 thousand tons of live weight and 262 thousand tons of dressed weight. Chickens continued to dominate: 101.1 million were slaughtered, 5.4 percent more than last year. In contrast, duck slaughter more than halved (-55.3%), while goose slaughter fell by nearly 15 percent. Turkey slaughter reached 2.6 million head (+4.5%). The domestic poultry population stood at 31.2 million on June 1, a 3.4 percent decrease.

According to Eurostat data, among European countries (excluding Turkey and the United Kingdom), Poland leads in chicken slaughter with more than 490 million head. In pig slaughter, Spain ranks first, ahead of Germany and France.