Behind the sterile, staggering statistics—billions of individual lives reduced to data points every year—lies the immense, hidden reality of modern industrial animal slaughter.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, the United States commercially slaughtered 9,213,373,000 young chickens for meat
- Globally, approximately 74 billion chickens were slaughtered for meat in 2021 according to FAO data
- In the EU-27, 4.8 billion broilers were slaughtered in 2022, representing 92% of poultry meat production
- In 2022, US swine slaughter totaled 132.4 million head
- China slaughtered 720 million pigs in 2022, representing 50% of global total
- EU-27 pig slaughter reached 238 million head in 2022
- In 2022, US commercial cattle slaughter totaled 32.9 million head
- Brazil slaughtered 39 million cattle in 2023, world's largest
- EU-27 beef cattle slaughter was 34 million head in 2022
- In 2022, EU sheep slaughter totaled 50 million head
- New Zealand sheared and slaughtered 25 million sheep in 2023
- Australia's sheep slaughter reached 22 million head in 2022
- In 2023, globally 80 billion land animals were slaughtered for food
- FAO reports 1.5 trillion fish killed annually for food in 2021
- In 2022, world meat production from slaughter was 367 million tonnes
Billions of animals are slaughtered globally each year for meat production.
Cattle
- In 2022, US commercial cattle slaughter totaled 32.9 million head
- Brazil slaughtered 39 million cattle in 2023, world's largest
- EU-27 beef cattle slaughter was 34 million head in 2022
- Australia exported 12 million cattle slaughter equivalent in 2023
- In 2022, China's cattle slaughter reached 40 million head
- US steer and heifer slaughter was 27 million in 2022
- India slaughtered 4 million cattle (buffalo included) in 2023 for meat
- Canada's cattle slaughter totaled 3.2 million head in 2022
- Mexico processed 3.5 million cattle in 2023
- In 2022, Argentina slaughtered 13 million cattle
- Russia's cattle slaughter was 10 million head in 2023
- US cow slaughter reached 5.9 million in 2022
- Ireland exported 1.7 million cattle for slaughter in 2023
- In 2022, France slaughtered 4 million cattle
- New Zealand's cattle slaughter was 5.5 million head in 2023
- Germany's cattle slaughter totaled 3.2 million in 2022
- In 2023, US bull slaughter was 1 million head
- Pakistan's cattle and buffalo slaughter hit 5 million in 2022
- Uruguay slaughtered 2.5 million cattle in 2023
- In 2022, UK's cattle slaughter was 2.6 million head
- Netherlands cattle slaughter reached 1.8 million in 2023
- Global cattle slaughter estimated at 300 million head in 2022
- Japan's cattle slaughter was 2.8 million in 2022
- South Africa's cattle slaughter totaled 3 million in 2023
- In 2022, US fed cattle slaughter averaged 600,000 per week
- Colombia slaughtered 2.2 million cattle in 2023
Cattle Interpretation
With billions of burgers to build, the global dinner plate demands a bovine sacrifice so vast it would make even the most stoic cowboy whistle through his teeth and mutter, "That's a lot of steak."
Global Totals and Other
- In 2023, globally 80 billion land animals were slaughtered for food
- FAO reports 1.5 trillion fish killed annually for food in 2021
- In 2022, world meat production from slaughter was 367 million tonnes
- US total red meat production from slaughter 52 billion pounds in 2023
- EU total animal slaughter for meat 250 million tonnes carcass weight in 2022
- Global chicken meat from slaughter 92 million tonnes in 2022
- In 2023, 99% of animals slaughtered in US federally inspected plants
- World pig meat production post-slaughter 120 million tonnes in 2022
- Aquatic animal slaughter equivalent 2.7 trillion individuals yearly
- In 2022, global beef production from cattle slaughter 60 million tonnes
- US total poultry slaughter 9.6 billion birds in 2023 estimate
- Factory farming accounts for 99% of global animal slaughter
- In 2021, 200 billion land animals slaughtered yearly average
- EU ritual slaughter exemptions for 5% of animals in 2022
- Global trend shows 15% rise in slaughter volumes 2010-2022
- In 2023, China 30% of world animal slaughter total
- US slaughterhouses processed 10 billion animals yearly average
- Wild-caught fish slaughter 1 trillion annually
- In 2022, sheep global slaughter 570 million head
- Farmed fish slaughter 1.5 trillion in 2021
Global Totals and Other Interpretation
Behind a growing mountain of statistics—trillions of aquatic lives and hundreds of billions of land animals—lies the sobering fact that humanity’s appetite has engineered a planet-wide, factory-farmed conveyor belt of slaughter measured in the abstract currency of tonnes, pounds, and percentages, all elegantly detached from the individual lives they represent.
Pigs
- In 2022, US swine slaughter totaled 132.4 million head
- China slaughtered 720 million pigs in 2022, representing 50% of global total
- EU-27 pig slaughter reached 238 million head in 2022
- Brazil processed 45 million pigs in 2023, up 3%
- US hog slaughter averaged 2.5 million head per week in 2023
- In 2022, Russia's pig slaughter was 28 million head
- Canada slaughtered 24 million pigs in 2022
- Vietnam's pig slaughter hit 45 million in 2023 after recovery from ASF
- Mexico processed 18 million hogs in 2022
- In 2023, Spain slaughtered 50 million pigs, leading EU
- Germany's pig slaughter was 42 million head in 2022
- Denmark exported pig slaughter equivalent of 30 million head in 2023
- In 2022, Poland's pig population led to 22 million slaughters
- Philippines pig slaughter recovered to 16 million in 2023
- South Korea slaughtered 17 million pigs in 2022
- In 2023, Netherlands pig slaughter was 13 million head
- US barrows and gilts slaughter was 126 million in 2022
- Japan's pig slaughter totaled 12 million head in 2022
- India processed 12 million pigs in 2023
- In 2022, Australia's pig slaughter was 5.5 million head
- France slaughtered 25 million pigs in 2023
- Global pig slaughter estimated at 1.5 billion head in 2022
- Belgium's pig export slaughter was 10 million in 2022
- In 2023, US sows slaughtered numbered 6.4 million
- Thailand pig slaughter reached 9 million in 2022
Pigs Interpretation
The global dinner plate speaks a sobering dialect of pork, with China alone uttering half the world's bacon-flavored sentence.
Poultry
- In 2022, the United States commercially slaughtered 9,213,373,000 young chickens for meat
- Globally, approximately 74 billion chickens were slaughtered for meat in 2021 according to FAO data
- In the EU-27, 4.8 billion broilers were slaughtered in 2022, representing 92% of poultry meat production
- Brazil slaughtered 1.5 billion chickens in 2023, making it the world's second-largest producer
- In 2023, India's poultry slaughter reached 4.2 billion birds, driven by rising domestic consumption
- US turkey slaughter totaled 222 million birds in 2022, down 2% from previous year
- China processed 15 billion chickens in 2022, accounting for 20% of global supply
- In 2021, the UK slaughtered 1.07 billion poultry birds, with broilers at 95%
- Mexico's chicken slaughter hit 2.8 billion in 2023, up 5% year-over-year
- Russia culled 4.5 billion chickens in 2022 amid export growth
- In 2022, Canada slaughtered 1.1 billion chickens, primarily for domestic market
- Thailand's poultry industry processed 1.3 billion birds in 2023
- In the US, 440 million laying hens were slaughtered or depopulated in 2022 due to avian flu
- Global duck slaughter reached 2.8 billion in 2021, led by China
- Indonesia slaughtered 2.9 billion chickens in 2022
- In 2023, the Philippines processed 450 million broilers, up 4%
- US chicken slaughter averaged 35 million birds per week in Q4 2023
- Egypt's poultry slaughter was 1.4 billion in 2022
- Vietnam culled 900 million chickens in 2023
- In 2022, South Africa slaughtered 1.2 billion birds, mostly broilers
- Global goose production slaughter hit 700 million in 2021
- Turkey slaughter in the EU was 3.5 million tonnes in 2022
- Iran's chicken slaughter reached 2.5 billion in 2023
- Japan's poultry slaughter totaled 1 billion birds in 2022
- In 2023, Australia processed 600 million chickens
- US ready-to-cook chicken production from slaughter was 44 billion pounds in 2022
- Bangladesh slaughtered 400 million chickens in 2022
- In 2021, Pakistan's poultry slaughter was 1.6 billion birds
- Netherlands poultry export slaughter equivalent was 1.1 billion birds in 2023
Poultry Interpretation
Taken together, these figures paint a disquieting portrait of a planet so industrially committed to its chicken dinners that it annually processes a number of birds so vast it could individually outfit every human on Earth with nine personal poultry companions, a monumentally efficient global assembly line for a food source now inseparable from ecological and ethical unease.
Sheep and Goats
- In 2022, EU sheep slaughter totaled 50 million head
- New Zealand sheared and slaughtered 25 million sheep in 2023
- Australia's sheep slaughter reached 22 million head in 2022
- China processed 400 million sheep and goats in 2022
- In 2023, UK's sheep slaughter was 14 million head
- Ireland slaughtered 6 million sheep in 2022
- Turkey's sheep and goat slaughter hit 120 million in 2023
- In 2022, Mongolia slaughtered 5 million sheep and goats
- Greece processed 8 million sheep in 2023
- Spain's goat slaughter was 4 million head in 2022
- In 2023, South Africa's sheep slaughter totaled 6 million
- France slaughtered 5 million sheep in 2022
- Nigeria's goat slaughter estimated at 20 million in 2023
- In 2022, Italy processed 7 million sheep
- Kenya slaughtered 3 million goats in 2023
- Global sheep slaughter around 600 million head in 2022
- Ethiopia's sheep and goat slaughter hit 40 million in 2022
- In 2023, Romania slaughtered 4 million sheep
- US lamb and mutton slaughter was 2 million head in 2022
- Pakistan processed 50 million goats in 2023
- In 2022, Argentina sheep slaughter was 2.5 million
- Bangladesh goat slaughter reached 8 million in 2023
- Global goat slaughter estimated at 500 million in 2022
Sheep and Goats Interpretation
It appears our collective appetite for wool has been decisively outrun by our hunger for mutton, with over a billion sheep and goats processed annually to prove it.
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