United Kingdom: pig production had a strong year in 2025

Defra data shows that pork production in the United Kingdom grew by 2.3% year-on-year in 2025, totaling 975,200 tonnes. Despite a reduction in the number of breeding sows, pig slaughter in the United Kingdom increased by 1.4% in 2025, reaching 10.39 million head. Analyzing the total number of slaughters by region, slaughter in England and Wales increased by 1.0% to 8.20 million head, representing 79% of the United Kingdom total. Slaughter in Northern Ireland increased by 3.0% to 1.97 million head, 19% of the United Kingdom total. However, slaughter in Scotland, which represents a smaller slice of the national picture (2%), recorded a marginal decline of 0.5% to 221,000 head. The slaughter of breeding sows and boars continued to decline as the number of breeding stock decreased. Although slaughter recorded an annual growth, the main factor for the increase in pork production in 2025 was the higher carcass weight. Over the twelve months, the average carcass weight was 90.9 kg, an ...