Statistics: Increase in 2019 poultry slaughter numbers, downward trend for all other slaughter animals
Slaughter numbers for cattle, pigs, sheep and goats in industrial units (slaughterhouses) followed a downward trend in 2019 compared to the year before, while the chicken meat production was on the rise, shows data released by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).
With 196,037 cattle slaughtered in abattoirs last year, carcass weight was 43,536 tons, while the meat supply from the 3,921,418 pigs slaughtered in 2019 stood at 342,575 tons.
The number of cattle slaughtered in industrial units in 2019 was 15.9 percent lower compared to 2018, while pig slaughter numbers dropped by 8.1 percent. Compared to the previous year, the beef production decreased by 12.8 percent, while pork production went down by 6.2 percent.
The number of sheep and goats slaughtered in official slaughterhouses was 0.5 percent down in 2019 compared to the previous year to 842,381 heads, and the respective meat supply dropped by 1.1 percent (12,314 tons). Poultry slaughter numbers were 6 percent up from 2018 to 280 million heads, and the poultry meat production advanced 6.6 percent (482,268 tons).
According to the INS, the regions with a high share of cattle slaughters were North-East (48.5 pct), South-Muntenia (10.5 pct) and North-West (10.4 pct), while pig slaughters accounted for a higher share in the Western region (over 36.0 pct), South-Muntenia (27.1 pct), North-East (12.4 pct) and North-West (11.1 pct) .
The regions with the highest shares of sheep and goat slaughters were South-Muntenia (23.8 pct), Center (over 17.0 pct), West (over 16.0 pct), North-West (16.5 pct), North-East (12.5 pct) and South-East (11.3 pct).
The regions accounting for the highest share in poultry slaughters were South-East (24.3 pct), North-East (23.4 pct), Center (15.4 pct), South-West Oltenia (12.5 pct) and South Muntenia (11.9 pct).