Livestock Products, Australia

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Quarterly statistics on livestock slaughtered and meat production

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Reference period
March 2023
Released
19/05/2023
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Key statistics

In seasonally adjusted terms for the March 2023 quarter:

  • Red meat production increased 10.0%
  • Chicken meat production decreased 0.4%

Livestock products (seasonally adjusted)

Cattle

  • Cattle slaughtered in the March 2023 quarter increased 13.5% to 1.7 million.
  • Beef production in the March 2023 quarter increased 11.3% to 524,335 tonnes.   

 

Sheep

  • Sheep slaughtered in the March 2023 quarter increased 37.5% to 2.4 million.
  • Mutton production in the March 2023 quarter increased 31.8% to 58,662 tonnes.

 

(a) Revised

Lambs

  • Lambs slaughtered in the March 2023 quarter increased 4.6% to 5.7 million.
  • Lamb meat production in the March 2023 quarter increased 1.7% to 137,582 tonnes.

 

(a) Revised

Pigs

  • Pigs slaughtered in the March 2023 quarter increased 5.6% to 1.5 million.
  • Pig meat production in the March 2023 quarter increased 5.9% to 117,512 tonnes.

 

Chickens

  • Chickens slaughtered in the March 2023 quarter increased 1.8% to 176.5 million. 
  • Chicken meat production in the March 2023 quarter decreased 0.4% to 335,114 tonnes. 

Gross value of livestock (original)

  • The gross value of cattle and calves slaughtered decreased 4.7% to $3.4 billion.
  • The gross value of sheep and lambs slaughtered decreased 5.8% to $1.2 billion. 
  • The gross value of pigs slaughtered increased 4.9% to $420 million. 
  • The gross value of poultry slaughtered decreased 1.4% to $910 million.

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 December 2022 issue of Livestock Products, Australia.

  • Table 5. Livestock slaughtered - sheep: all series ('000)

  • Table 6. Livestock slaughtered - lambs: all series ('000)

  • Table 11. Red meat produced - mutton: all series (tonnes)

  • Table 12. Red meat produced - lamb: all series (tonnes)

  • Table 14. Red meat produced - total red meat: all series (tonnes)

Data downloads

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Time Series

Data files

Data Cubes

Gross value of livestock slaughtered

Data files
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Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 7215.0.

Methodology

Livestock Products, Australia methodology, March 2023