Cattle slaughtered in New Zealand

By animal type, year ended September 1983–2025, millions

The following information applies to all values in the table. Kill status: Total Kill, Unit: Number
Year ended September	Animal type	Number of animals
1983	Calves and Vealers	962,782
1983	Heifers	439,760
1983	Cows	710,927
1983	Steers	764,505
1983	Bulls	241,233
1984	Calves and Vealers	825,989
1984	Heifers	383,023
1984	Cows	571,354
1984	Steers	609,295
1984	Bulls	207,210
1985	Calves and Vealers	836,448
1985	Heifers	401,008
1985	Cows	642,186
1985	Steers	670,162
1985	Bulls	267,204
1986	Calves and Vealers	952,218
1986	Heifers	369,354
1986	Cows	622,929
1986	Steers	597,020
1986	Bulls	292,864
1987	Calves and Vealers	870,326
1987	Heifers	440,069
1987	Cows	764,446
1987	Steers	696,695
1987	Bulls	377,396
1988	Calves and Vealers	918,148
1988	Heifers	478,420
1988	Cows	620,281
1988	Steers	705,458
1988	Bulls	417,676
1989	Calves and Vealers	876,426
1989	Heifers	483,992
1989	Cows	630,650
1989	Steers	743,802
1989	Bulls	430,565
1990	Calves and Vealers	735,161
1990	Heifers	385,830
1990	Cows	564,775
1990	Steers	598,769
1990	Bulls	385,967
1991	Calves and Vealers	747,064
1991	Heifers	416,172
1991	Cows	649,677
1991	Steers	639,992
1991	Bulls	450,492
1992	Calves and Vealers	789,485
1992	Heifers	418,755
1992	Cows	608,517
1992	Steers	617,747
1992	Bulls	490,856
1993	Calves and Vealers	801,661
1993	Heifers	452,551
1993	Cows	588,839
1993	Steers	613,472
1993	Bulls	608,682
1994	Calves and Vealers	824,619
1994	Heifers	417,661
1994	Cows	530,056
1994	Steers	576,618
1994	Bulls	520,598
1995	Calves and Vealers	1,253,506
1995	Heifers	452,548
1995	Cows	696,106
1995	Steers	747,413
1995	Bulls	517,358
1996	Calves and Vealers	1,410,037
1996	Heifers	493,176
1996	Cows	713,228
1996	Steers	782,269
1996	Bulls	450,981
1997	Calves and Vealers	1,407,501
1997	Heifers	525,954
1997	Cows	729,452
1997	Steers	800,762
1997	Bulls	370,926
1998	Calves and Vealers	1,402,689
1998	Heifers	491,466
1998	Cows	877,888
1998	Steers	752,695
1998	Bulls	343,609
1999	Calves and Vealers	1,310,199
1999	Heifers	468,397
1999	Cows	760,616
1999	Steers	609,782
1999	Bulls	386,238
2000	Calves and Vealers	1,125,883
2000	Heifers	464,874
2000	Cows	664,119
2000	Steers	561,451
2000	Bulls	481,498
2001	Calves and Vealers	1,206,918
2001	Heifers	432,160
2001	Cows	596,754
2001	Steers	539,221
2001	Bulls	615,914
2002	Calves and Vealers	1,355,675
2002	Heifers	405,580
2002	Cows	685,048
2002	Steers	463,160
2002	Bulls	623,229
2003	Calves and Vealers	1,607,278
2003	Heifers	475,173
2003	Cows	842,533
2003	Steers	512,005
2003	Bulls	656,223
2004	Calves and Vealers	1,460,273
2004	Heifers	520,108
2004	Cows	876,283
2004	Steers	583,599
2004	Bulls	688,207
2005	Calves and Vealers	1,379,904
2005	Heifers	506,639
2005	Cows	754,170
2005	Steers	594,600
2005	Bulls	566,970
2006	Calves and Vealers	1,388,714
2006	Heifers	500,211
2006	Cows	677,833
2006	Steers	630,533
2006	Bulls	528,951
2007	Calves and Vealers	1,368,597
2007	Heifers	484,166
2007	Cows	676,206
2007	Steers	608,602
2007	Bulls	522,964
2008	Calves and Vealers	1,506,645
2008	Heifers	501,697
2008	Cows	659,431
2008	Steers	646,862
2008	Bulls	558,959
2009	Calves and Vealers	1,466,763
2009	Heifers	512,317
2009	Cows	848,918
2009	Steers	601,181
2009	Bulls	475,019
2010	Calves and Vealers	1,552,256
2010	Heifers	498,535
2010	Cows	822,652
2010	Steers	619,618
2010	Bulls	435,172
2011	Calves and Vealers	1,656,240
2011	Heifers	488,502
2011	Cows	862,619
2011	Steers	596,188
2011	Bulls	433,858
2012	Calves and Vealers	1,694,466
2012	Heifers	450,828
2012	Cows	734,697
2012	Steers	562,797
2012	Bulls	443,587
2013	Calves and Vealers	1,934,777
2013	Heifers	441,029
2013	Cows	925,449
2013	Steers	580,287
2013	Bulls	426,814
2014	Calves and Vealers	2,128,897
2014	Heifers	459,451
2014	Cows	933,593
2014	Steers	568,673
2014	Bulls	441,782
2015	Calves and Vealers	2,119,768
2015	Heifers	499,147
2015	Cows	1,175,234
2015	Steers	567,844
2015	Bulls	479,409
2016	Calves and Vealers	1,995,263
2016	Heifers	481,907
2016	Cows	1,109,836
2016	Steers	526,814
2016	Bulls	466,212
2017	Calves and Vealers	1,764,062
2017	Heifers	472,613
2017	Cows	929,759
2017	Steers	529,413
2017	Bulls	461,694
2018	Calves and Vealers	1,828,809
2018	Heifers	483,963
2018	Cows	1,019,121
2018	Steers	544,950
2018	Bulls	543,927
2019	Calves and Vealers	1,816,185
2019	Heifers	502,193
2019	Cows	999,033
2019	Steers	573,498
2019	Bulls	556,764
2020	Calves and Vealers	1,903,087
2020	Heifers	510,596
2020	Cows	1,042,905
2020	Steers	591,387
2020	Bulls	542,787
2021	Calves and Vealers	1,887,276
2021	Heifers	581,528
2021	Cows	1,036,797
2021	Steers	679,569
2021	Bulls	553,937
2022	Calves and Vealers	1,872,815
2022	Heifers	549,079
2022	Cows	969,982
2022	Steers	656,524
2022	Bulls	528,978
2023	Calves and Vealers	1,958,190
2023	Heifers	561,002
2023	Cows	1,004,565
2023	Steers	664,623
2023	Bulls	501,629
2024	Calves and Vealers	1,912,833
2024	Heifers	563,390
2024	Cows	958,840
2024	Steers	668,215
2024	Bulls	450,189
2025	Calves and Vealers	1,745,078
2025	Heifers	561,931
2025	Cows	895,960
2025	Steers	622,564
2025	Bulls	431,385

Definitions

Graded numbers are those animals inspected by veterinarians and passed fit for consumption on local and export markets.
Weight at slaughter, or hot weight, is the weight of the inspected animal after the head, knuckles, intestines and pelt have been removed but before drying, cooling or further processing has taken place.
Total Kill = Graded + Condemned.

Limitations of the data

From October 2017, data on pigs are shown in new weight groups. Because of this, the annual data for pigs from September 2017 to September 2018 may be incomplete.

Data provided by

Stats NZ

Dataset name

Livestock Slaughtering: Total New Zealand by kill by animal type (Annual-Sep) September 2025

Webpage:

https://infoshare.stats.govt.nz/

How to find the data

At URL provided, select 'Industry sectors > Livestock Slaughtering - LSS > Total New Zealand by kill by animal type (Annual-Sep)'. All variables except discontinued values were selected to create this dataset.

Import & extraction details

File as imported: Livestock Slaughtering: Total New Zealand by kill by animal type (Annual-Sep) September 2025

From the dataset Livestock Slaughtering: Total New Zealand by kill by animal type (Annual-Sep) September 2025, this data was extracted:

Rows: 6-49
Columns: 2-761
Provided: 16,712 data points

This data forms the table Livestock - Livestock slaughtering by kill status by animal type Year ended September 1982–2025.

Dataset originally released on:

November 06, 2025

About this dataset

Livestock slaughtering statistics provide information about kills by region and animal type.

Cattle slaughtered in New Zealand

By animal type, year ended September 1983–2025, millions

About this data

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