Yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat in South Korea

South Korea: Yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat was 1.11 million animals in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
1.11 million animals
Change on year
up 5.1%
World rank
51st
of 197 countries
All-time high
1.28 million animals
in 1998
All-time low
136,272 animals
in 1961
Years of data
64
1961–2024

Yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat in South Korea, 1961–2024

250.0k500.0k750.0k1.0M1.2M196119922024

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in animals.

Analysis

The most recent figure for yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat in South Korea is 1.11 million animals, measured in 2024.

The figure is up 5.1% on the previous year and up 7.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat in South Korea peaked at 1.28 million animals in 1998 and was at its lowest, 136,272 animals, in 1961.

That places South Korea 51st out of 197 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 230,759 animals 136,272 animals 328,780 animals 9
1970s 346,395 animals 219,309 animals 470,239 animals 10
1980s 656,858 animals 372,800 animals 1.09 million animals 10
1990s 823,645 animals 537,824 animals 1.28 million animals 10
2000s 708,239 animals 576,204 animals 997,331 animals 10
2010s 918,137 animals 752,370 animals 1.07 million animals 10
2020s 1.01 million animals 903,000 animals 1.11 million animals 5

Countries ranked near South Korea

  1. 48 Morocco 1.27 million animals compare
  2. 49 Guatemala 1.16 million animals compare
  3. 50 Egypt 1.16 million animals compare
  4. 52 Ecuador 1.08 million animals compare
  5. 53 Japan 1.03 million animals compare
  6. 54 South Sudan 966,271 animals compare

See the full ranking of 198 places →

More agriculture & rural data for South Korea

All data for South Korea →

Frequently asked questions

What is yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat in South Korea?
Yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat in South Korea was 1.11 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 South Korea?
The highest recorded value was 1.28 million animals in 1998.
What is the lowest yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat recorded in South Korea?
The lowest recorded value was 136,272 animals in 1961.
How does South Korea rank for yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat?
South Korea ranks 51st out of 197 countries with data for 2024.
Is yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat rising or falling in South Korea?
Over the last ten years it is up 7.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this South Korea 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).

About this data

Indicator
Yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat
Unit
animals
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
198 places, 11,446 data points, 1961–2024
Last refreshed