Livestock Products, Australia

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Quarterly statistics on livestock slaughtered and meat production

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Reference period
December 2022
Released
16/02/2023
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Key statistics

In seasonally adjusted terms for the December 2022 quarter:

  • Red meat production decreased 2.2%
  • Chicken meat production decreased 2.3%

Livestock products (seasonally adjusted)

Cattle

  • Cattle slaughtered in the December 2022 quarter decreased 1.1% to 1.5 million.
  • Beef production in the December 2022 quarter decreased 1.0% to 470,957 tonnes.   

 

Sheep

  • Sheep slaughtered in the December 2022 quarter increased 3.5% to 1.7 million.
  • Mutton production in the December 2022 quarter decreased 1.6% to 44,317 tonnes.

 

Lambs

  • Lambs slaughtered in the December 2022 quarter decreased 9.5% to 5.4 million.
  • Lamb meat production in the December 2022 quarter decreased 8.7% to 132,481 tonnes.

 

Pigs

  • Pigs slaughtered in the December 2022 quarter increased 0.3% to 1.4 million.
  • Pig meat production in the December 2022 quarter increased 1.2% to 110,961 tonnes.

 

Chickens

  • Chickens slaughtered in the December 2022 quarter decreased 2.7% to 173.3 million. 
  • Chicken meat production in the December 2022 quarter decreased 2.3% to 336,317 tonnes. 

(a) Revised

Gross value of livestock (original)

  • The gross value of cattle and calves slaughtered decreased 8.6% to $3.6 billion.
  • The gross value of sheep and lambs slaughtered decreased 3.4% to $1.2 billion. 
  • The gross value of pigs slaughtered decreased 3.1% to $401 million. 
  • The gross value of poultry slaughtered increased 3.7% to $923 million.

(a) revised

Changes in this and forthcoming issues

Suspension of trend estimates

The trend series attempts to measure underlying behaviour in livestock slaughter (including poultry), meat production and wool receivals data.  In the short term, this measurement may be affected by changes to regular patterns in livestock slaughterings, meat production and wool receivals arising from continuing COVID-19 restrictions, as well as changes in overall environmental conditions.  If the trend estimates were to be calculated without fully accounting for these factors, they would likely provide a misleading view of underlying behaviour in livestock slaughter, meat production and wool receivals.

It may be some time before the underlying trend can be estimated accurately.  The livestock slaughtering and meat production trend series were therefore suspended from the March 2020 reference quarter, and poultry slaughtering and meat production and wool receivals trend series suspended from the June 2020 reference quarter.  These trend series will be reinstated when more certainty emerges in the underlying trend for these series.

For more detail on trend estimates, please refer to the ABS Feature Article: When it's Not "Business-as-Usual": Implications for ABS Time Series.

Revisions

The following timeseries have been revised since the release of the September 2022 issue of Livestock Products, Australia.

  • Table 8. Livestock slaughtered - chickens: all series ('000)
  • Table 15. Chicken meat produced: all series (tonnes)

Data downloads

The ABS will no longer publish Table 16 as part of this publication. For further information, please refer to the September 2022 quarter Changes in this and forthcoming issues.

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Time Series

Data files

Data Cubes

Gross value of livestock slaughtered

Data files
Download xlsx [85.82 KB]

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 7215.0.

Methodology

Livestock Products, Australia methodology, December 2022