Number of cattle in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe: Number of cattle was 5.74 million animals in 2024. ▲ Rising
Number of cattle in Zimbabwe, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in animals.
Analysis
Zimbabwe recorded 5.74 million animals for number of cattle in 2024.
The figure is down 0.2% on the previous year and up 17.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of cattle in Zimbabwe peaked at 6.61 million animals in 1977 and was at its lowest, 3.40 million animals, in 1966.
That places Zimbabwe 47th out of 196 countries with data for 2024, putting it 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 | 3.79 million animals | 3.40 million animals | 4.80 million animals | 9 |
| 1970s | 5.84 million animals | 5.19 million animals | 6.61 million animals | 10 |
| 1980s | 5.61 million animals | 5.28 million animals | 5.92 million animals | 10 |
| 1990s | 5.33 million animals | 4.18 million animals | 6.41 million animals | 10 |
| 2000s | 5.44 million animals | 4.99 million animals | 6.27 million animals | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.57 million animals | 4.87 million animals | 6.15 million animals | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.54 million animals | 5.20 million animals | 5.75 million animals | 5 |
Countries ranked near Zimbabwe
More agriculture & rural data for Zimbabwe
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 4.85 billion current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 9.5% (2025)
- Rural population 10.09 million (2025)
- Rural population growth 0.9% (2025)
- Rural population 59.5% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.3% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.9% (2024)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 9.5% (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 9.5% (2025)
- Land under cereal production 1.57 million hectares (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of cattle in Zimbabwe?
- Number of cattle in Zimbabwe was 5.74 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 number of cattle recorded in Zimbabwe?
- The highest recorded value was 6.61 million animals in 1977.
- What is the lowest number of cattle recorded in Zimbabwe?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.40 million animals in 1966.
- How does Zimbabwe rank for number of cattle?
- Zimbabwe ranks 47th out of 196 countries with data for 2024.
- Is number of cattle rising or falling in Zimbabwe?
- Over the last ten years it is up 17.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Zimbabwe 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).