Yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat in Ireland
Ireland: Yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat was 1.91 million animals in 2024. ▲ Rising
Yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat in Ireland, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in animals.
Analysis
In 2024, yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat in Ireland stood at 1.91 million animals.
That represents a change of up 1.9% on the previous year and up 9.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat in Ireland peaked at 2.13 million animals in 1999 and was at its lowest, 488,500 animals, in 1964.
Ireland ranks 34th of 197 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 669,022 animals | 488,500 animals | 952,000 animals | 9 |
| 1970s | 1.23 million animals | 782,900 animals | 1.75 million animals | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.44 million animals | 1.19 million animals | 1.70 million animals | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.71 million animals | 1.44 million animals | 2.13 million animals | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.77 million animals | 1.60 million animals | 1.89 million animals | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.72 million animals | 1.48 million animals | 1.90 million animals | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.87 million animals | 1.79 million animals | 1.91 million animals | 5 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More agriculture & rural data for Ireland
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 7.63 billion current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 1.1% (2025)
- Rural population 1.94 million (2025)
- Rural population growth 1.0% (2025)
- Rural population 35.4% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.5% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.3% (2024)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 1.1% (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 1.1% (2025)
- Land under cereal production 258,930 hectares (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat in Ireland?
- Yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat in Ireland was 1.91 million animals in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 2.13 million animals in 1999.
- What is the lowest yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 488,500 animals in 1964.
- How does Ireland rank for yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat?
- Ireland ranks 34th out of 197 countries with data for 2024.
- Is yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Ireland data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 64 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).