Number of cattle in Botswana
Botswana: Number of cattle was 918,057 animals in 2024. ▼ Falling
Number of cattle in Botswana, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in animals.
Analysis
Botswana recorded 918,057 animals for number of cattle in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 64 years on record.
That represents a change of down 8.2% on the previous year and down 42.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of cattle in Botswana peaked at 3.10 million animals in 1977 and was at its lowest, 918,057 animals, in 2024.
Botswana ranks 105th of 196 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 64 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.43 million animals | 1.04 million animals | 1.63 million animals | 9 |
| 1970s | 2.40 million animals | 1.65 million animals | 3.10 million animals | 10 |
| 1980s | 2.64 million animals | 2.26 million animals | 2.98 million animals | 10 |
| 1990s | 2.27 million animals | 1.82 million animals | 2.70 million animals | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.22 million animals | 2.00 million animals | 2.60 million animals | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.75 million animals | 934,732 animals | 2.65 million animals | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.00 million animals | 918,057 animals | 1.10 million animals | 5 |
Countries ranked near Botswana
More agriculture & rural data for Botswana
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 354.96 million current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 1.8% (2025)
- Rural population 821,007 (2025)
- Rural population growth 0.1% (2025)
- Rural population 32.0% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.8% (2023)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.0% (2023)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 1.8% (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 1.8% (2025)
- Land under cereal production 60,588 hectares (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of cattle in Botswana?
- Number of cattle in Botswana was 918,057 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 number of cattle recorded in Botswana?
- The highest recorded value was 3.10 million animals in 1977.
- What is the lowest number of cattle recorded in Botswana?
- The lowest recorded value was 918,057 animals in 2024.
- How does Botswana rank for number of cattle?
- Botswana ranks 105th out of 196 countries with data for 2024.
- Is number of cattle rising or falling in Botswana?
- Over the last ten years it is down 42.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Botswana 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 Number of cattle. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 64 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).