England abattoir numbers – cattle and sheep

07 August 2023
This data shows the number and size of English red meat abattoirs operating each year.

Latest update

Red meat abattoirs in England

Type of abattoir202020212022
All abattoirs 159 151 151
Killing cattle 131 124 124
Killing sheep 128 121 121
Killing pigs 94 87 86

Cattle abattoirs by size in England, 2022

Size band (head)Number of abattoirsTotal throughput (head)Share of throughput (%)
1-1000 54 16,783 1.0%
1,001-5,000 28 73,584 4.4%
5,001-10,000 10 65,922 4.0%
10,001-20,000 5 72,618 4.4%
20,001-30,000 7 168,838 10.2%
30,001-50,000 7 281,961 17.0%
>50,000 13 981,655 59.1%
Total 124 1,661,655 100.0%

Sheep abattoirs by size in England, 2022

Size band (head)Number of abattoirsTotal throughput (head)Share of throughput (%)
1-1,000 20 8,666 0.1%
1,001-5,000 30 74,658 0.8%
5,001-10,000 15 106,400 1.1%
10,001-20,000 10 139,539 1.4%
20,001-30,000 7 171,268 1.7%
30,001-50,000 5 183,292 1.9%
50,001-100,000 9 573,331 5.8%
>100,000 25 8,605,902 87.3%
Total 121 9,863,056 100.0%

Additional information

Data based on abattoirs operating during the calendar year.

Contact us

This dataset was produced by our Data and Analysis Team. To find out more about the team, please visit the Data and Analysis team page.

If you need any further help, please email Dawn, Lydia or Sue at econ@ahdb.org.uk 

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