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Number of cattle, 1970 to 2020

Number of cattle FAO – cattle
Country/area
1970
2020
Absolute Change
Relative Change
Afghanistan3,700,0005,296,101+1,596,101+43%
Albania413,700362,583-51,117-12%
Algeria885,0001,740,183+855,183+97%
Angola2,514,1775,120,992+2,606,815+104%
Antigua and Barbuda7,8004,375-3,425-44%
Argentina48,439,64854,460,800+6,021,152+12%
Armenia579,256
Australia22,162,46423,503,238+1,340,774+6%
Austria2,417,9301,855,430-562,500-23%
Azerbaijan2,504,048
Bahamas2,500765-1,735-69%
Bahrain4,0007,000+3,000+75%
Bangladesh25,686,00024,391,000-1,295,000-5%
Barbados20,00010,774-9,226-46%
Belarus4,287,700
Belgium2,335,440
Belize36,000102,155+66,155+184%
Benin566,4001,937,604+1,371,204+242%
Bhutan236,000281,015+45,015+19%
Bolivia2,290,80010,103,767+7,812,967+341%
Bosnia and Herzegovina427,461
Botswana1,650,0001,000,000-650,000-39%
Brazil75,446,704217,836,288+142,389,584+189%
Brunei2,500583-1,917-77%
Bulgaria1,255,481588,910-666,571-53%
Burkina Faso2,550,0007,607,000+5,057,000+198%
Burundi685,407838,991+153,584+22%
Cambodia2,300,0002,825,286+525,286+23%
Cameroon2,325,0005,924,103+3,599,103+155%
Canada11,626,00011,540,000-86,000-1%
Cape Verde13,89329,519+15,626+112%
Central African Republic680,0004,611,315+3,931,315+578%
Chad4,500,00032,237,208+27,737,208+616%
Chile2,998,6753,197,442+198,767+7%
China57,500,00066,934,420+9,434,420+16%
Colombia20,200,00027,973,390+7,773,390+38%
Comoros66,00051,294-14,706-22%
Congo35,900333,264+297,364+828%
Cook Islands190224+34+18%
Costa Rica1,496,2601,427,793-68,467-5%
Cote d'Ivoire408,0001,750,915+1,342,915+329%
Croatia423,000
Cuba6,282,4003,752,400-2,530,000-40%
Cyprus40,00083,030+43,030+108%
Czechia1,340,040
Czechoslovakia4,222,576
Democratic Republic of Congo994,3001,343,889+349,589+35%
Denmark2,842,2711,500,000-1,342,271-47%
Djibouti22,000308,541+286,541+1,302%
Dominica3,16813,955+10,787+340%
Dominican Republic1,100,0003,043,250+1,943,250+177%
East Timor67,035246,777+179,742+268%
Ecuador2,433,9004,335,924+1,902,024+78%
Egypt2,115,0002,745,000+630,000+30%
El Salvador1,241,000754,172-486,828-39%
Equatorial Guinea3,2005,446+2,246+70%
Eritrea2,144,935
Estonia253,300
Eswatini568,369548,964-19,405-3%
Ethiopia70,291,776
Ethiopia (former)26,231,504
Faroe Islands2,5551,837-718-28%
Fiji149,50093,301-56,199-38%
Finland1,872,900835,380-1,037,520-55%
France21,719,29617,815,670-3,903,626-18%
French Guiana2,500
French Polynesia9,8008,610-1,190-12%
Gabon2,05739,309+37,252+1,811%
Gambia248,698285,182+36,484+15%
Georgia869,500
Germany19,457,40811,301,860-8,155,548-42%
Ghana903,0002,109,000+1,206,000+134%
Greece996,856631,500-365,356-37%
Grenada6,5006,426-74-1%
Guadeloupe75,000
Guatemala1,442,8594,011,120+2,568,261+178%
Guinea1,300,0008,367,838+7,067,838+544%
Guinea-Bissau230,000732,525+502,525+218%
Guyana256,80096,278-160,522-63%
Haiti900,0001,546,010+646,010+72%
Honduras1,578,3542,881,235+1,302,881+83%
Hong Kong13,1601,567-11,593-88%
Hungary1,932,552932,900-999,652-52%
Iceland53,40180,643+27,242+51%
India177,442,000194,943,616+17,501,616+10%
Indonesia6,137,00017,440,392+11,303,392+184%
Iran5,300,0005,323,974+23,974+0%
Iraq1,830,0002,019,660+189,660+10%
Ireland5,229,0006,529,440+1,300,440+25%
Israel240,400525,900+285,500+119%
Italy9,563,0006,400,040-3,162,960-33%
Jamaica270,000160,000-110,000-41%
Japan3,622,0003,907,000+285,000+8%
Jordan43,60077,888+34,288+79%
Kazakhstan6,486,000
Kenya8,600,00026,765,936+18,165,936+211%
Kuwait5,94031,480+25,540+430%
Kyrgyzstan1,715,776
Laos380,0002,188,000+1,808,000+476%
Latvia398,990
Lebanon87,00086,680-320-0%
Lesotho551,522330,726-220,796-40%
Liberia28,00044,607+16,607+59%
Libya107,870218,260+110,390+102%
Lithuania629,500
Luxembourg190,690
Madagascar8,781,7097,955,523-826,186-9%
Malawi491,4591,946,033+1,454,574+296%
Malaysia325,522699,424+373,902+115%
Mali5,310,00012,474,462+7,164,462+135%
Malta8,84114,290+5,449+62%
Martinique48,000
Mauritania1,800,0001,953,681+153,681+9%
Mauritius48,0004,754-43,246-90%
Mexico22,798,00035,653,620+12,855,620+56%
Micronesia (country)17,744
Moldova108,900
Mongolia1,991,0004,732,010+2,741,010+138%
Montenegro77,889
Morocco3,600,0003,166,900-433,100-12%
Mozambique1,259,8292,183,857+924,028+73%
Myanmar6,833,25610,305,196+3,471,940+51%
Namibia2,500,0002,516,554+16,554+1%
Nepal6,300,0007,458,885+1,158,885+18%
Netherlands3,679,0003,691,000+12,000+0%
New Caledonia120,30081,610-38,690-32%
New Zealand8,777,33210,082,788+1,305,456+15%
Nicaragua2,430,7005,252,113+2,821,413+116%
Niger4,000,00016,138,935+12,138,935+303%
Nigeria8,887,00020,585,152+11,698,152+132%
Niue314113-201-64%
North Korea730,000581,000-149,000-20%
North Macedonia222,202
Norway943,002882,961-60,041-6%
Oman69,000412,948+343,948+498%
Pakistan14,584,00049,624,000+35,040,000+240%
Palestine25,790
Panama1,187,7001,505,500+317,800+27%
Papua New Guinea76,09492,249+16,155+21%
Paraguay4,340,00014,026,143+9,686,143+223%
Peru4,127,3005,636,388+1,509,088+37%
Philippines1,678,7002,541,959+863,259+51%
Poland10,843,5006,278,900-4,564,600-42%
Portugal1,259,0001,691,320+432,320+34%
Puerto Rico518,000237,474-280,526-54%
Qatar5,30044,718+39,418+744%
Reunion25,000
Romania4,859,5781,875,200-2,984,378-61%
Russia18,126,004
Rwanda709,3541,608,499+899,145+127%
Saint Kitts and Nevis5,6001,933-3,667-65%
Saint Lucia9,00010,576+1,576+18%
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines7,2002,554-4,646-65%
Samoa19,77434,372+14,598+74%
Sao Tome and Principe3,0601,433-1,627-53%
Saudi Arabia160,000700,000+540,000+338%
Senegal2,615,0003,658,199+1,043,199+40%
Serbia886,127
Serbia and Montenegro
Seychelles1,700500-1,200-71%
Sierra Leone296,000622,091+326,091+110%
Singapore5,000184-4,816-96%
Slovakia442,290
Slovenia485,610
Solomon Islands12,09915,280+3,181+26%
Somalia3,800,0004,812,240+1,012,240+27%
South Africa11,300,00012,297,621+997,621+9%
South Korea1,296,6733,804,976+2,508,303+193%
South Sudan13,784,065
Spain4,288,0706,636,430+2,348,360+55%
Sri Lanka1,593,3061,103,570-489,736-31%
Sudan31,757,266
Sudan (former)12,300,000
Suriname40,20036,465-3,735-9%
Sweden1,925,9681,390,960-535,008-28%
Switzerland1,907,4001,515,123-392,277-21%
Syria528,402884,572+356,170+67%
Taiwan103,045151,514+48,469+47%
Tajikistan2,391,000
Tanzania10,139,00033,630,772+23,491,772+232%
Thailand4,666,9694,641,127-25,842-1%
Togo194,345464,299+269,954+139%
Tonga3,09712,132+9,035+292%
Trinidad and Tobago63,00034,846-28,154-45%
Tunisia700,000607,908-92,092-13%
Turkey13,189,00017,965,482+4,776,482+36%
Turkmenistan2,498,583
USSR95,162,000
Uganda4,280,50014,918,000+10,637,500+249%
Ukraine3,092,000
United Arab Emirates15,000103,102+88,102+587%
United Kingdom12,627,5169,615,000-3,012,516-24%
United States112,369,00893,793,296-18,575,712-17%
Uruguay8,563,74711,182,000+2,618,253+31%
Uzbekistan13,154,200
Vanuatu74,50089,104+14,604+20%
Venezuela8,289,40816,055,171+7,765,763+94%
Vietnam1,616,0006,230,519+4,614,519+286%
Yemen893,0001,835,801+942,801+106%
Yugoslavia5,029,000
Zambia1,574,0003,814,438+2,240,438+142%
Zimbabwe5,190,0005,195,154+5,154+0%
Other
Africa136,291,253375,562,658+239,271,405+176%
Africa (FAO)148,591,248375,562,656+226,971,408+153%
Americas (FAO)342,953,728530,686,400+187,732,672+55%
Asia341,179,808470,573,479+129,393,671+38%
Asia (FAO)341,219,808470,656,512+129,436,704+38%
Belgium-Luxembourg (FAO)2,899,000
Caribbean (FAO)9,318,1688,825,337-492,831-5%
Central America (FAO)32,210,87251,587,708+19,376,836+60%
Central Asia (FAO)26,245,560
China (FAO)57,616,20467,087,500+9,471,296+16%
Eastern Africa (FAO)71,905,464190,255,312+118,349,848+165%
Eastern Asia (FAO)65,255,88080,112,488+14,856,608+23%
Eastern Europe (FAO)118,275,68837,072,844-81,202,844-69%
Europe214,551,801116,237,550-98,314,251-46%
Europe (FAO)217,410,800116,154,520-101,256,280-47%
European Union (27)94,190,65176,551,120-17,639,531-19%
European Union (27) (FAO)97,089,64876,551,120-20,538,528-21%
High-income countries283,956,969271,745,089-12,211,880-4%
Land Locked Developing Countries (FAO)51,978,412261,091,456+209,113,044+402%
Least Developed Countries (FAO)145,793,648344,086,560+198,292,912+136%
Low Income Food Deficit Countries (FAO)126,245,088357,068,160+230,823,072+183%
Low-income countries44,891,003237,400,172+192,509,169+429%
Lower-middle-income countries300,726,539468,560,364+167,833,825+56%
Melanesia432,493371,544-60,949-14%
Micronesia (FAO)17,744
Middle Africa (FAO)11,057,69449,616,960+38,559,266+349%
Net Food Importing Developing Countries (FAO)207,466,592471,465,824+263,999,232+127%
North America165,524,049165,746,342+222,293+0%
Northern Africa (FAO)19,707,87040,235,520+20,527,650+104%
Northern America (FAO)123,995,008105,333,296-18,661,712-15%
Northern Europe (FAO)25,496,61222,118,012-3,378,600-13%
Oceania31,405,46434,030,765+2,625,301+8%
Oceania (FAO)31,405,46434,030,764+2,625,300+8%
Polynesia33,17555,451+22,276+67%
Small Island Developing States (FAO)10,551,52410,571,959+20,435+0%
South America177,429,682364,940,056+187,510,374+106%
South America (FAO)177,429,680364,940,032+187,510,352+106%
South-eastern Asia (FAO)24,011,98247,119,448+23,107,466+96%
Southern Africa (FAO)16,569,89116,693,865+123,974+1%
Southern Asia (FAO)234,841,312288,422,176+53,580,864+23%
Southern Europe (FAO)21,558,46818,258,452-3,300,016-15%
Upper-middle-income countries410,425,038549,384,888+138,959,850+34%
Western Africa (FAO)29,350,33678,761,008+49,410,672+168%
Western Asia (FAO)17,110,64228,756,856+11,646,214+68%
Western Europe (FAO)52,080,03238,705,212-13,374,820-26%
World1,081,581,0561,527,090,816+445,509,760+41%
Data

Number of cattle

FAO
See all data and research on:
Agricultural Production

What you should know about this indicator

Item: Cattle

Description: Cattle This subclass includes: - cattle, species of Bos, mainly bovis, taurus, indicus, grunniens, gaurus, grontalis and sondaicus, known with many different names: ox, zebu, yak, gaur, gayal, banteng, etc. This subclass does not include: - buffalo, species of Bubalus, Syncerus and bisons, species of Bison, cf. 02112

Metric: Stocks

Description: Number of animals of the species present in the country at the time of enumeration. It includes animals raised either for draft purposes or for meat, eggs and dairy production or kept for breeding. Live animals in captivity for fur or skin such as foxes, minks etc. are not included in the system although furskin trade is reported. The enumeration to be chosen, when more than one survey is taken, is the closest to the beginning of the calendar year. Livestock data are reported in number of heads (units) except for poultry, rabbits and other rodents which are reported in thousand units. Source: FAO Statistics Division.

Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Last updated
March 17, 2025
Next expected update
March 2026
Date range
1961–2023
Unit
animals

Related research and writing

A dark blue background with a lighter blue world map superimposed over it. Yellow text that says Meat and Dairy Production by Our World in Data

Meat and Dairy Production

Hannah Ritchie, Pablo Rosado and Max Roser

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

Crop and livestock statistics are recorded for 278 products, covering the following categories:

  1. Crops primary: Cereals, Citrus Fruit, Fibre Crops, Fruit, Oil Crops, Oil Crops and Cakes in Oil Equivalent, Pulses, Roots and Tubers, Sugar Crops, Treenuts and Vegetables. Data are expressed in terms of area harvested, production quantity and yield. Area and production data on cereals relate to crops harvested for dry grain only. Cereal crops harvested for hay or harvested green for food, feed or silage or used for grazing are therefore excluded.

  2. Crops processed: Beer of barley; Cotton lint; Cottonseed; Margarine, short; Molasses; Oil, coconut (copra); Oil, cottonseed; Oil, groundnut; Oil, linseed; Oil, maize; Oil, olive, virgin; Oil, palm; Oil, palm kernel; Oil, rapeseed; Oil, safflower; Oil, sesame; Oil, soybean; Oil, sunflower; Palm kernels; Sugar Raw Centrifugal; Wine.

  3. Live animals: Animals live n.e.s.; Asses; Beehives; Buffaloes; Camelids, other; Camels; Cattle; Chickens; Ducks; Geese and guinea fowls; Goats; Horses; Mules; Pigeons, other birds; Pigs; Rabbits and hares; Rodents, other; Sheep; Turkeys.

  4. Livestock primary: Beeswax; Eggs (various types); Hides buffalo, fresh; Hides, cattle, fresh; Honey, natural; Meat (ass, bird nes, buffalo, camel, cattle, chicken, duck, game, goat, goose and guinea fowl, horse, mule, Meat nes, meat other camelids, Meat other rodents, pig, rabbit, sheep, turkey); Milk (buffalo, camel, cow, goat, sheep); Offals, nes; Silk-worm cocoons, reelable; Skins (goat, sheep); Snails, not sea; Wool, greasy.

  5. Livestock processed: Butter (of milk from sheep, goat, buffalo, cow); Cheese (of milk from goat, buffalo, sheep, cow milk); Cheese of skimmed cow milk; Cream fresh; Ghee (cow and buffalo milk); Lard; Milk (dry buttermilk, skimmed condensed, skimmed cow, skimmed dried, skimmed evaporated, whole condensed, whole dried, whole evaporated); Silk raw; Tallow; Whey (condensed and dry); Yoghurt.

Retrieved on
March 17, 2025
Retrieved from
http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - Production: Crops and livestock products (2025).

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All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.

At the link below you can find a detailed description of the structure of our data pipeline, including links to all the code used to prepare data across Our World in Data.

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  • All data produced by third-party providers and made available by Our World in Data are subject to the license terms from the original providers. Our work would not be possible without the data providers we rely on, so we ask you to always cite them appropriately (see below). This is crucial to allow data providers to continue doing their work, enhancing, maintaining and updating valuable data.
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Citations

How to cite this page

To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: Number of cattle”, part of the following publication: Hannah Ritchie, Pablo Rosado and Max Roser (2023) - “Agricultural Production”. Data adapted from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved from https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/cattle-livestock-count-heads [online resource]
How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data

Full citation

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. “Number of cattle – FAO” [dataset]. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, “Production: Crops and livestock products” [original data]. Retrieved April 4, 2025 from https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/cattle-livestock-count-heads

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