Germany recorded a decrease in pig slaughter in April

The decline in hog slaughter in Germany continued in April, but at a slower pace than in previous months. Just under 4.30 million pigs were sent for slaughter in the reporting month, just 0.9% less than in April 2020, according to current data from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Due to the increase in slaughter weight, pork production decreased by 1.7% to 1.72 million tons.

Statistical data from Wiesbaden show that the reduction in slaughter was entirely due to fewer foreign slaughter pigs being commercially processed in that country. From January to April, MEAT producers received 424,715 pigs ready for slaughter from other EU countries; this is about 635 thousand or 60% less than in the same period last year. On the contrary, the supply of pigs from local pig farmers remained relatively constant and even increased slightly - by 25,400 heads, or 0.1%, to 17.30 million heads. The share of processed foreign pigs at slaughterhouses in Germany was just 2.4%, compared to 6.3% in the first third of 2019 before the CORONAVIRUS.

North Rhine-Westphalia was particularly affected by low supplies of foreign pigs, which came mainly from the Netherlands and Denmark, and to a lesser extent from Belgium or France. In the first four months of 2021, only 107,580 pigs from other EU countries were sent here for slaughter, according to Destatis; this is 402.7 thousand or 78.9% less than in the same period last year. This could not be offset by domestic supply, which increased by 130,000 HEAD to 5.73 million head; the total slaughter volume decreased by 4.5% to 5.84 million pigs. As a result, Lower Saxony ranked first in pig slaughter in Germany.