The overall pig herd in England fell by 10 percent in 2023, following the huge contraction of the breeding herd in 2022, figures show.
Defra’s December census showed that the breeding herd stabilised last year, but showed little sign of growth. There was also a drop in young pig numbers.
The total number of pigs in England fell to 3.3 million in December 2023, a loss of nearly 400,000 pigs.
The 10% year-on-year decline was driven by an 11% fall in the number of fattening pigs to just over 3 million.
According to Defra's figures, the overall English pig breeding herd was 1% down on December 2022 at 300,800.
The female breeding herd, which accounts for 79% of breeding pigs, saw a small increase of 0.7% to 239,000 in December 2023.
This followed 2022's huge 20 percent contraction, as well as a smaller 7 percent decline in 2021.
Last year's increase was driven by a 3.5% rise in the number of sows in pig to 175,500 and a 0.7% rise in the number of ‘other sows’.
However, this offset a 16% fall in the number of gilts in pig, compared to December 2022. The census also showed a 7% year-on-year decline in the number of gilts not yet in pig to 54,200.
The December 2023 census totals tend to be lower than the June populations and that was again the case.
The overall pig herd was a further 8.5% down on the June the census figure for England of 3.6m.
The overall breeding herd was 8.6% lower and the female breeding herd figure 7.1% down on June, while gilts in pig were 21% lower and gilts not in pig 15% lower.
