England abattoir numbers – cattle and sheep

4 June 2025
This data shows the number and size of English red meat abattoirs operating each year.

Latest update

Red meat abattoirs in England

Type of abattoir202220232024
All abattoirs 151 147 143
Killing cattle 124 121 118
Killing sheep  121 116 115
Killing pigs 86 84 81

Cattle abattoirs by size in England, 2024

Size band
(head)
Number of
abattoirs
Total throughput (head)Share of throughput (%)
1-1,000 50 13,820 0.8%
1,001-5,000 32 76,293 4.7%
5,001-10,000 7 50,706 3.1%
10,001-20,000 3 48,035 2.9%
20,001-30,000 4 99,047 6.1%
30,001-50,000 9 344,025 21.0%
>50,000 13 1,003,063 61.3%
Total 118 1,634,989 100.0%

Sheep abattoirs by size in England, 2024

Size band
(head)
Number of
abattoirs
Total throughput (head)Share of throughput (%)
1-1,000 27 12,559 0.1%
1,001-5,000 23 55,753 0.6%
5,001-10,000 14 103,366 1.1%
10,001-20,000 9 120,986 1.3%
20,001-30,000 5 117,266 1.2%
30,001-50,000 7 253,590 2.7%
50,000 - 100,000 7 484,226 5.1%
> 100,001 23 8,321,686 87.9%
Total 115 9,469,432 100.0%

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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