New Zealand's ratio of sheep to people lowest in over 150 years
Lamb
Meat
New Zealand
Published Jun 3, 2023
Tridge summary
The latest data from Stats NZ shows that as of 30 June 2022, the New Zealand national flock stood at 25.3 million sheep. This was 2% lower than the year before and continues the long-term contraction of the national flock.
Original content
Since 2002, the NZ national flock has shrunk by 14.2 million head (or -36%). This puts the ratio of sheep to people below 5:1 for the first time since records began in the 1850s, according to Stats NZ. For context, in the 1980s the ratio peaked at around 22:1. Several factors have contributed to this decline; perhaps the removal of farm subsidy in the 1980s being the most instrumental. More recently sheep numbers have been pressured by factors including lower global wool prices, adverse weather and increased tree-planting for carbon-offsetting schemes. Even though New Zealand’s sheep numbers have declined, the volume of sheep meat exported has remained relatively stable. Over the last 10 years for example, the national flock has contracted by 19%, while exports have fluctuated around 400,000 tonnes (+7% between 2012–2022), demonstrating an increase in productivity. Beef & Lamb New Zealand forecast that declining ewe numbers will have contributed to the 2022/23 lamb crop shrinking ...
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