Dutch Slaughter­houses Process 6% Fewer Pigs

In the past year, Dutch slaughterhouses have observed a significant decline of approximately 6% in pig processing compared to the previous year. Consequently, they collectively dipped below the threshold of 15 million processed pigs in one year for the first time since 2016, as indicated by market data from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).

Statistics from the past year reveal that 943,829 fewer porkers were hung on Dutch slaughterhooks compared to 2022. The total number of processed porkers amounted to 14.75 million and 15.70 million in 2023 and 2022, respectively. After 2016, during which 14.74 million porkers were slaughtered, the annual number of processed pigs consistently remained above 15 million.

Weight Increase and Decrease in Total Pork Production

The average slaughtered weight per porker increased by 0.17 kilos in 2023 compared to 2022, reaching a total of 99.5 kilos. However, this increase resulted in a roughly 6% decline in total pork production in the past year compared to 2022.

Fatter Pigs, Lower Meat Percentage

Despite the decrease in overall processing, Dutch pork farmers chose to make their pigs slightly fatter. The average meat percentage of processed pigs was approximately 58.9% last year, indicating a slight decrease of 0.05% compared to 2022.

Nieuweoogst.nl