Global Land Animal Slaughter Trends

1960-2020s

Author

Doron Fingold

Published

October 23, 2025

Analysis Overview

This analysis explores global trends in animal agriculture from 1961 to the 2022, examining the data from four distinct perspectives. It begins by charting the growth in the number of animals slaughtered over time, first for major livestock categories and then highlighting the sheer scale of poultry production. The focus then shifts from raw counts to estimated meat mass, revealing how different species contribute to the global food supply by weight. Finally, the analysis uses a series of world maps to visualize geographical trends. These maps illustrate which animal species are dominant in each country by decade—both by count and by mass—and conclude by showing how the global production for each specific animal type is concentrated in key countries. Together, these perspectives reveal significant shifts in where and how animal protein is produced globally.

Global Slaughter: Chickens & Ducks vs. All Other Animals

This visualization starkly contrasts the global number of slaughtered chickens and ducks with the combined total of all other land animals. It reveals that poultry are slaughtered in numbers that vastly exceed all other terrestrial livestock combined, and their rate of increase since 1960 has been exceptionally steep.

Global Estimated Mass of Slaughtered Animals (1961-2022)

Shifting the focus from animal count to total meat production, this chart displays the estimated global meat mass from various animal types. Despite lower slaughter counts compared to chickens, cattle consistently contribute the largest share of meat mass globally, followed by pigs, illustrating the importance of animal size in production analysis.

Most Slaughtered Animal Species in Each Country

These maps provide a geographical perspective on animal agriculture, showing the most slaughtered animal species by raw count in each country, decade by decade. The visualization clearly demonstrates the global dominance of chickens, which have become the leading category by count in most nations.

Most Slaughtered Animal Species in Each Country (Excluding Chickens)

By removing chickens from the dataset, these maps reveal the secondary patterns of livestock dominance across the world. This view uncovers significant regional concentrations, such as pig production in East Asia and Europe, sheep in the Middle East and Oceania, and cattle in the Americas.

Animal Species Contributing Most to Meat Production in Each Country

This series of maps visualizes the animal species that contributes the most to meat production based on estimated total mass. In contrast to maps based on animal counts, this perspective highlights the global importance of cattle and pigs as the dominant sources of meat mass in major regions like the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

Country’s Share of Global Slaughter (By Animal Type)

The following series of maps drills down into the production of individual animal species, illustrating each country’s percentage share of the global slaughter total for that animal over time.

Chickens

Top 5 Countries by Decade for Chickens Slaughter
Rank 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
1
32.2%
25.1% ↓
21.5% ↓
22.2% ↑
18.7% ↓
14.8% ↑
15.1% ↑
2
7.3%
8.4% ↑
9.7% ↑
11.4% ↑
14.5% ↑
13.9% ↓
12.7% ↓
3
6.2%
5.4% ↓
6.1% ↑
7.8% ↑
9.4% ↑
8.7% ↓
8.2% ↓
4
4.3%
4.0% ↑
5.6% ↑
3.5% ↓
3.1% ↑
4.8% ↑
6.1% ↑
5
4.1%
3.8% ↑
3.5% ↑
2.7% ↑
2.8% ↑
3.6% ↑
3.9% ↑

Ducks

Top 5 Countries by Decade for Ducks Slaughter
Rank 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
1
42.9%
40.6% ↓
40.4% ↓
62.7% ↑
71.3% ↑
74.7% ↑
77.5% ↑
2
6.7%
6.7% ↑
8.6% ↑
5.1% ↓
3.5% ↓
3.1% ↑
4.3% ↑
3
6.1%
6.1% ↑
6.0% ↓
5.0% ↓
2.8% ↓
3.0% ↑
1.9% ↑
4
3.9%
5.0% ↓
5.8% ↑
3.2% ↓
2.6% ↓
2.6% ↓
1.7% ↓
5
3.8%
4.9% ↑
4.4% ↓
3.0% ↓
1.9% ↑
1.7% ↓
1.6% ↑

Pigs

Top 5 Countries by Decade for Pigs Slaughter
Rank 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
1
21.5%
26.0% ↑
29.2% ↑
38.5% ↑
44.6% ↑
47.8% ↑
42.5% ↓
2
17.7%
13.2% ↓
10.8% ↓
9.7% ↓
8.8% ↓
8.1% ↓
9.3% ↑
3
13.2%
10.4% ↓
9.2% ↓
4.3% ↓
4.1% ↓
4.1% ↓
4.1% ↑
4
7.1%
7.0% ↓
6.5% ↓
3.7% ↓
3.2% ↑
3.3% ↑
3.8% ↑
5
3.1%
3.0% ↓
2.5% ↑
2.9% ↑
2.9% ↑
3.2% ↓
3.7% ↓

Geese

Top 5 Countries by Decade for Geese Slaughter
Rank 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
1
44.4%
58.1% ↑
68.7% ↑
84.5% ↑
90.7% ↑
93.6% ↑
96.2% ↑
2
15.4%
12.2% ↓
9.6% ↓
3.0% ↓
1.7% ↓
1.2% ↓
0.7% ↑
3
9.3%
5.0% ↓
5.0% ↑
2.5%
1.6% ↓
0.9% ↑
0.6% ↓
4
5.5%
4.0% ↓
3.2% ↓
2.4% ↓
1.4% ↓
0.8% ↓
0.6% ↓
5
4.7%
3.9% ↓
2.4% ↓
2.1% ↓
1.2% ↓
0.7% ↓
0.5% ↓

Sheep

Top 5 Countries by Decade for Sheep Slaughter
Rank 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
1
19.7%
15.7% ↓
13.2% ↓
15.0% ↑
23.8% ↑
26.4% ↑
31.1% ↑
2
9.8%
9.8% ↓
10.1% ↑
7.1% ↓
6.2% ↓
5.4% ↓
4.4% ↓
3
8.9%
9.5% ↑
7.1% ↓
7.0% ↓
6.0% ↓
4.5% ↓
3.8% ↓
4
5.4%
6.3% ↑
6.7% ↑
5.1% ↓
4.3% ↑
3.9% ↓
3.6% ↓
5
4.1%
4.0% ↑
5.4% ↓
4.4% ↑
4.0% ↑
3.1% ↑
3.1% ↑

Rabbits

Top 5 Countries by Decade for Rabbits Slaughter
Rank 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
1
42.8%
26.6% ↓
23.2% ↑
31.9% ↑
50.3% ↑
55.1% ↑
48.7% ↓
2
14.7%
18.8% ↑
17.0% ↓
16.4% ↑
10.6% ↑
14.8% ↑
20.2% ↑
3
8.9%
11.9% ↑
12.3% ↑
11.8% ↓
10.1% ↓
6.8% ↑
10.5% ↑
4
6.4%
10.5% ↑
11.8% ↑
8.7% ↑
6.7% ↓
6.3% ↓
6.9% ↑
5
5.2%
6.8% ↑
9.4% ↑
8.4% ↓
6.3% ↓
4.0% ↓
3.1% ↓

Turkeys

Top 5 Countries by Decade for Turkeys Slaughter
Rank 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
1
61.0%
48.8% ↓
46.6% ↓
46.5% ↓
42.0% ↓
40.7% ↓
40.7% ↓
2
10.2%
10.4% ↑
13.4% ↑
17.0% ↑
14.7% ↓
8.5% ↓
7.4% ↑
3
7.1%
7.2% ↑
7.0% ↓
5.8% ↓
6.9% ↑
6.2% ↓
6.6% ↓
4
4.4%
7.1% ↑
6.7% ↓
5.7% ↓
5.0% ↓
5.3% ↑
6.2% ↓
5
3.0%
6.8% ↓
4.3% ↓
4.0% ↑
4.9% ↑
5.1% ↑
5.1% ↑

Goats

Top 5 Countries by Decade for Goats Slaughter
Rank 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
1
21.9%
19.4% ↓
19.8% ↑
24.5% ↑
32.8% ↑
33.2% ↑
31.3% ↓
2
6.5%
9.6% ↑
14.5% ↑
17.4% ↓
13.9% ↓
11.7% ↓
11.1% ↓
3
6.2%
7.9% ↑
9.0% ↑
7.8% ↓
6.1% ↑
7.1% ↑
8.9% ↑
4
5.2%
4.9% ↓
4.1% ↓
5.6% ↑
5.6% ↑
6.5% ↑
6.3% ↓
5
3.9%
4.1% ↑
3.8% ↑
4.7% ↑
5.1% ↓
5.5% ↓
5.6% ↑

Cattle

Top 5 Countries by Decade for Cattle Slaughter
Rank 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
1
19.9%
18.8% ↓
16.3% ↑
14.5% ↓
13.7% ↑
13.8% ↑
15.5% ↑
2
17.1%
16.1% ↓
16.0% ↓
10.2% ↑
13.6% ↑
13.5% ↓
13.5% ↓
3
5.9%
5.6% ↓
7.8% ↑
8.8% ↓
13.0% ↓
11.5% ↓
11.2% ↓
4
4.2%
5.3% ↑
5.3% ↓
7.1% ↑
5.0% ↓
4.3% ↓
4.4% ↑
5
4.0%
4.0% ↑
4.3% ↑
5.1% ↓
4.0% ↓
3.0% ↓
3.1% ↑

Key Observations

China’s Growing Dominance

The data shows China’s substantial rise in global animal production since the 1960s. By the 2020s, China accounts for 96% of geese, 78% of ducks, 49% of rabbits, 43% of pigs, and has become the leading producer of sheep (31%),goats (31%) and cattle(15.5%). This represents a major shift in global production patterns, particularly notable in ducks (up from 43% in the 1960s) and pigs (up from 22%).

The Turkey Exception

The United States maintains approximately 41% of global turkey production, the only major species where the US leads. This share has remained relatively stable across all decades.

Production Concentration

The top producer’s share has increased in most categories, indicating growing concentration rather than diversification. This is most pronounced in geese, ducks, and sheep production.

Conclusion

Global animal agriculture has undergone significant restructuring over the past six decades. China has emerged as the dominant producer across most major livestock categories, with particularly strong control of poultry and pig production. This concentration represents a major shift from the more distributed production patterns of the 1960s.

However, important variations persist. Turkey production remains concentrated in the United States, and regional patterns continue in sheep and cattle production.

The overall trend toward production concentration in fewer countries raises questions about supply chain resilience and food security. Understanding these patterns—both the consolidation and the persistent regional variations—is essential for assessing the future of global food systems, though questions about trade flows, per-capita consumption, and the drivers of concentration merit further investigation.