Cattle slaughtering decreased by 2.8 per cent in the same period when compared with the same period in 2022, while the number of sheep slaughtered fell by 0.7 per cent in the 10-months period.
An analysis of the data for October 2023 compared with October 2022 shows that cattle slaughtering increased by 4.1 per cent. The number of sheep slaughtered rose by 0.4 per cent in October 2023 when compared with October 2022. And, pig slaughtering contracted by 3.3 per cent in October 2023 compared with October 2022.
Commenting on the numbers, Mairead Griffin, statistician in the Agriculture Accounts & Production Section, said: "Cattle slaughterings increased by 4.1 per cent to almost 175,000 heads in October 2023 when compared with October 2022. The number of sheep slaughtered rose by 0.4% to nearly 278,000 heads in October 2023 when compared with October 2022, while pig slaughtering contracted by 3.3 per cent to almost 272,000 heads.
Further analysis of the data shows that between January and October 2023, cattle slaughtering decreased by 2.8 per cent to more than 1.5m heads while the number of sheep slaughtered fell by 0.7 per cent to just over 2.6m heads. Pig slaughtering was down by 9.3 per cent to approximately 2.7m heads over the same 10-month period."