Between January and April 2026, cattle slaughterings decreased by 14.8% when compared with the same period in 2025, new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.

The number of cattle slaughtered in Ireland was down by 14.5% in April 2026 compared with April 2025.

The CSO has today (Wednesday, May 27) published its Livestock Slaughterings April 2026 report.

The number of sheep slaughtered declined by 4.9% between January and April 2026.

The number of sheep slaughtered decreased by 15.6% in April 2026 when compared with the same month in 2025, CSO figures show.

The number of pigs slaughtered in the first four months of 2026 grew by 4.8% when compared with the same four-month period in 2025.

The number of pigs slaughtered rose by 3.5% in April 2026 when compared with April 2025.

CSO

Commenting on the release, Cathal Byrne, statistician in the CSO's agriculture accounts and production section, said: "Cattle slaughterings decreased to 136,000 heads in April 2026 when compared with April 2025.

"During the same period, the number of sheep slaughtered fell to 174,000 heads and pig slaughterings went up to 298,000 heads."

Further analysis of the data shows that between January and April 2026, cattle slaughterings contracted by 14.8% to 547,000 heads when compared with the same period in 2025, Byrne added.

"The number of sheep slaughterings fell by 4.9% to 746,000 heads while pig slaughterings went up by 4.8% to 1.2 million heads over the same four-month period."