Made in England ResearchDataset
How much meat does the UK eat? Production and consumption
UK farms produced 4.1 million tonnes of meat in 2025. The UK produces 84% of the beef it uses, 67% of its pig meat and more lamb than it eats. Self-sufficiency, livestock numbers since 1980, imports, exports and prices.
Key figures
- 4.1mtonnes of meat produced on UK farms in 2025, worth £12.4bn. Poultry was nearly half of it by weight.
- 67%of the pig meat used in the UK in 2025 was produced here, the lowest of the four meats. For poultry it was 80%.
- 103%for lamb and mutton: the UK produces slightly more than it uses, and is a net exporter.
- 44.7msheep in the UK at the peak in 1999. There were 9.3 million cattle and 4.7 million pigs in June 2025.
- 30%the rise in prime cattle prices in 2025, to 647p a kilo, as the beef herd shrank to 1.29 million cows.
How much of our meat is produced in the UK
UK production as a share of all the meat supplied for use in the UK, which is production plus imports minus exports. Above 100% means the UK produces more than it uses. Lamb is the only meat where that is true. Pig meat fell furthest, to below half in the mid 2000s, and has partly recovered. Tap or hover on the chart to see the figures for a year.
UK, home-fed production as a percentage of total new supply for use in the UK, by weight. The dashed line marks 100%. Beef fell sharply in 1996, when BSE led to a ban on UK beef exports, which lasted until 2006, and older cattle were kept out of the food chain.
Supply in 2025
| Meat | Produced in the UK | Imported | Exported | Total supply | UK production as % of supply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beef and veal | 898 | 309 | 142 | 1,065 | 84 |
| Pig meat | 937 | 603 | 146 | 1,394 | 67 |
| Lamb and mutton | 282 | 91 | 99 | 274 | 103 |
| Poultry meat | 2,000 | 700 | 212 | 2,488 | 80 |
Thousand tonnes, dressed carcase weight. Source: Defra, Agriculture in the UK 2025, chapter 8: Livestock.
The longer run
| Year | Beef and veal | Pig meat | Lamb and mutton | Poultry meat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 99 | 78 | 73 | 96 |
| 1990 | 95 | 76 | 89 | 94 |
| 1995 | 114 | 80 | 110 | 94 |
| 2000 | 79 | 70 | 98 | 89 |
| 2005 | 74 | 48 | 90 | 88 |
| 2010 | 83 | 53 | 92 | 88 |
| 2015 | 80 | 62 | 93 | 87 |
| 2020 | 85 | 71 | 111 | 96 |
| 2021 | 83 | 71 | 108 | 93 |
| 2022 | 87 | 70 | 107 | 84 |
| 2023 | 85 | 65 | 113 | 82 |
| 2024 | 85 | 65 | 101 | 82 |
| 2025 | 84 | 67 | 103 | 80 |
UK production as a percentage of supply. Source: Defra, Agriculture in the UK 2025 livestock dataset.
Cattle, sheep and pigs since 1980
Numbers on UK farms each June. Cattle have fallen by about a third since 1980 and pigs by about 40%. Sheep numbers grew through the 1980s, peaked in 1999, and fell after the foot and mouth outbreak of 2001 and changes to farm subsidies. There is now almost one sheep for every two people in the UK.
UK, millions of animals at June. Poultry are in the table below, as their numbers are far higher.
| June | Cattle | of which beef cows | of which dairy cows | Sheep | Pigs | Poultry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 13.4 | 1.5 | 3.2 | 31.4 | 7.8 | not given |
| 1985 | 13.0 | 1.4 | 3.1 | 35.8 | 8.0 | 122.0 |
| 1990 | 12.2 | 1.6 | 2.8 | 44.5 | 7.5 | 128.0 |
| 1995 | 11.9 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 43.3 | 7.6 | 142.3 |
| 2000 | 11.1 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 42.3 | 6.5 | 169.8 |
| 2005 | 10.8 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 35.4 | 4.9 | 173.9 |
| 2010 | 10.2 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 31.1 | 4.5 | 163.9 |
| 2015 | 9.9 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 33.3 | 4.7 | 167.6 |
| 2020 | 9.6 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 32.7 | 5.1 | 182.0 |
| 2021 | 9.6 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 33.0 | 5.3 | 190.0 |
| 2022 | 9.6 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 33.2 | 5.2 | 183.5 |
| 2023 | 9.6 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 31.8 | 4.7 | 178.1 |
| 2024 | 9.4 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 31.0 | 4.7 | 176.1 |
| 2025 | 9.3 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 30.5 | 4.7 | 183.3 |
Millions of animals at June. Poultry numbers are not given before 1984 in this series. Source: Defra, Agriculture in the UK 2025 livestock dataset.
Imports and exports
The UK exported 35% of the lamb and mutton it produced in 2025, and 95% of those exports went to the EU. At the same time it imported 91 thousand tonnes, mostly from outside the EU, chiefly New Zealand and Australia. Beef and pig meat imports come mainly from the EU, though beef imports from elsewhere have grown since the trade deals with Australia and New Zealand.
Lamb and mutton trade
| Year | Produced | Exported | Share of production exported (%) | Exports going to the EU (%) | Imported |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 287 | 102 | 36 | 96 | 128 |
| 2011 | 301 | 111 | 37 | 96 | 110 |
| 2012 | 286 | 108 | 38 | 88 | 106 |
| 2013 | 300 | 119 | 40 | 84 | 120 |
| 2014 | 306 | 116 | 38 | 86 | 112 |
| 2015 | 309 | 91 | 29 | 95 | 115 |
| 2016 | 300 | 91 | 30 | 96 | 116 |
| 2017 | 309 | 103 | 33 | 94 | 100 |
| 2018 | 299 | 97 | 32 | 96 | 97 |
| 2019 | 318 | 107 | 34 | 95 | 80 |
| 2020 | 306 | 101 | 33 | 91 | 71 |
| 2021 | 293 | 81 | 28 | 93 | 59 |
| 2022 | 301 | 87 | 29 | 94 | 68 |
| 2023 | 296 | 96 | 33 | 94 | 61 |
| 2024 | 276 | 91 | 33 | 95 | 88 |
| 2025 | 282 | 99 | 35 | 95 | 91 |
Thousand tonnes, dressed carcase weight equivalent. Shares are our own sums. Source: Defra, Agriculture in the UK 2025 livestock dataset.
Where imports come from and exports go, 2025
| Meat | Imported from the EU | Imported from elsewhere | EU share of imports (%) | Exported to the EU | Exported elsewhere |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beef and veal | 244 | 66 | 79 | 124 | 18 |
| Pig meat | 601 | 1 | 100 | 76 | 70 |
| Lamb and mutton | 9 | 82 | 10 | 94 | 4 |
| Poultry meat | 584 | 116 | 83 | 142 | 69 |
Thousand tonnes, dressed carcase weight equivalent. Source: Defra, Agriculture in the UK 2025, chapter 8: Livestock.
What farmers are paid
Average prices paid to farmers, in pence per kilo of carcase weight. Cattle prices rose by 30% in 2025, to 84% above their 2020 level, because fewer cattle are being reared.
| Year | Prime cattle | Clean pigs | Finished sheep (GB) | Table chickens |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 346 | 132 | 381 | 119 |
| 2020 | 352 | 161 | 475 | 144 |
| 2021 | 398 | 148 | 576 | 145 |
| 2022 | 431 | 178 | 568 | 149 |
| 2023 | 476 | 217 | 578 | 180 |
| 2024 | 497 | 204 | 693 | 155 |
| 2025 | 647 | 204 | 710 | 150 |
Pence per kilogram, deadweight. Sheep prices are for Great Britain. Source: Defra, Agriculture in the UK 2025 livestock dataset, from AHDB price reporting.
About the figures
All figures are from Defra's Agriculture in the UK, chapter 8, published in July 2026. Production is home-fed production: animals raised and slaughtered in the UK, measured by dressed carcase weight, the weight after slaughter with the head, skin and organs removed. Imports and exports are converted to the same carcase weight so they can be compared. Livestock numbers come from Defra's June survey of farms.
Old EBLEX and BPEX figures
EBLEX, the English Beef and Lamb Executive, and BPEX, the British Pig Executive, were part of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB). Their websites, eblex.org.uk and bpex.org.uk, have closed, as has AHDB's later beef and lamb site. This page gathers the official figures the old pages were often cited for.
Method
Figures are quoted from Defra's tables. Shares of exports and imports, and changes between years, are our own sums. We quote the published figures with credit, and do not offer the data as a download.
Next update
We will add the 2026 figures when Defra publishes Agriculture in the UK 2026, usually in the summer.
Related research
Suggested citation
Made in England Research, How much meat does the UK eat?, from Defra figures. https://madeinengland.com/pages/uk-meat-statistics