Data / Number of cattle / China

Number of cattle in China

Number of cattle in China was 70,325,500 head in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. That is down 4.4% from 2023. That is the 5th highest of 190 countries in 2024.

2024, head70,325,500 Estimated
Change on 2023-4.4%
Rank5th of 190Countries ranked
Series high108,760,0001996
Series low46,760,0001962

Next release: Thursday, 31 December 2026, estimated by Invokely from past publication dates (low confidence), not announced by the publisher. Release calendar

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Number of cattle in China, 1961 to 2024

40M60M80M100M120M19611971198119912001201120241961: 49,400,000 head1962: 46,760,000 head1963: 47,360,000 head1964: 48,940,000 head1965: 52,420,000 head1966: 53,573,008 head1967: 55,950,000 head1968: 56,860,000 head1969: 57,720,000 head1970: 57,500,000 head1971: 57,500,000 head1972: 57,486,000 head1973: 57,000,000 head1974: 56,676,000 head1975: 56,554,000 head1976: 55,547,008 head1977: 53,825,008 head1978: 52,723,008 head1979: 52,528,000 head1980: 52,411,008 head1981: 52,515,008 head1982: 53,833,008 head1983: 56,926,000 head1984: 58,935,008 head1985: 62,622,000 head1986: 66,886,000 head1987: 70,847,008 head1988: 73,088,800 head1989: 76,114,200 head1990: 77,769,856 head1991: 81,194,000 head1992: 82,587,000 head1993: 85,640,000 head1994: 90,757,000 head1995: 100,405,000 head1996: 108,760,000 head1997: 90,682,000 head1998: 99,277,000 head1999: 101,754,000 head2000: 104,396,000 head2001: 100,774,000 head2002: 95,408,000 head2003: 92,954,000 head2004: 92,062,000 head2005: 89,993,000 head2006: 87,413,000 head2007: 81,934,000 head2008: 82,680,000 head2009: 70,251,020 head2010: 68,739,790 head2011: 65,688,000 head2012: 63,960,750 head2013: 62,900,320 head2014: 62,900,320 head2015: 63,050,960 head2016: 63,390,530 head2017: 61,841,430 head2018: 63,271,250 head2019: 63,967,890 head2020: 66,934,420 head2021: 68,720,750 head2022: 71,510,950 head2023: 73,559,570 head2024: 70,325,500 head40M60M80M100M120M19611983200520241961: 49,400,000 head1962: 46,760,000 head1963: 47,360,000 head1964: 48,940,000 head1965: 52,420,000 head1966: 53,573,008 head1967: 55,950,000 head1968: 56,860,000 head1969: 57,720,000 head1970: 57,500,000 head1971: 57,500,000 head1972: 57,486,000 head1973: 57,000,000 head1974: 56,676,000 head1975: 56,554,000 head1976: 55,547,008 head1977: 53,825,008 head1978: 52,723,008 head1979: 52,528,000 head1980: 52,411,008 head1981: 52,515,008 head1982: 53,833,008 head1983: 56,926,000 head1984: 58,935,008 head1985: 62,622,000 head1986: 66,886,000 head1987: 70,847,008 head1988: 73,088,800 head1989: 76,114,200 head1990: 77,769,856 head1991: 81,194,000 head1992: 82,587,000 head1993: 85,640,000 head1994: 90,757,000 head1995: 100,405,000 head1996: 108,760,000 head1997: 90,682,000 head1998: 99,277,000 head1999: 101,754,000 head2000: 104,396,000 head2001: 100,774,000 head2002: 95,408,000 head2003: 92,954,000 head2004: 92,062,000 head2005: 89,993,000 head2006: 87,413,000 head2007: 81,934,000 head2008: 82,680,000 head2009: 70,251,020 head2010: 68,739,790 head2011: 65,688,000 head2012: 63,960,750 head2013: 62,900,320 head2014: 62,900,320 head2015: 63,050,960 head2016: 63,390,530 head2017: 61,841,430 head2018: 63,271,250 head2019: 63,967,890 head2020: 66,934,420 head2021: 68,720,750 head2022: 71,510,950 head2023: 73,559,570 head2024: 70,325,500 head
head. Source: FAOSTAT, Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Cattle, stocks, head (item 866, element 5111). Retrieved 2026-10-12, published 2025-12-31.
All 64 values
Periodhead
202470,325,500 Estimated
202373,559,570 Estimated
202271,510,950 Estimated
202168,720,750 Estimated
202066,934,420 Estimated
201963,967,890 Estimated
201863,271,250 Estimated
201761,841,430 Estimated
201663,390,530 Estimated
201563,050,960 Estimated
201462,900,320 Estimated
201362,900,320 Estimated
201263,960,750 Estimated
201165,688,000 Estimated
201068,739,790 Estimated
200970,251,020 Estimated
200882,680,000
200781,934,000
200687,413,000
200589,993,000
200492,062,000
200392,954,000
200295,408,000
2001100,774,000
2000104,396,000
1999101,754,000
199899,277,000
199790,682,000
1996108,760,000
1995100,405,000
199490,757,000
199385,640,000
199282,587,000
199181,194,000
199077,769,856
198976,114,200
198873,088,800
198770,847,008
198666,886,000
198562,622,000
198458,935,008
198356,926,000
198253,833,008
198152,515,008
198052,411,008
197952,528,000
197852,723,008
197753,825,008
197655,547,008
197556,554,000
197456,676,000
197357,000,000
197257,486,000
197157,500,000
197057,500,000
196957,720,000
196856,860,000
196755,950,000
196653,573,008
196552,420,000
196448,940,000
196347,360,000
196246,760,000
196149,400,000

Rankings

Definition

Number of cattle (domestic cattle, not buffaloes) present in the country, as published in FAOSTAT's crops and livestock products domain. FAO asks for the count on one day of the year, usually the census or survey date, so the reference day differs between countries.

FAO fills gaps in national reporting with its own estimates and imputations, which are marked as estimated, and revises past years when countries send new figures.

How to cite

FAO. 2025. FAOSTAT: Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Cattle, stocks, head (item 866, element 5111). Accessed on 2026-10-12. https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip Licence: CC-BY-4.0. FAO does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2025). Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Cattle, stocks, head (item 866, element 5111) (Number of cattle, China, 1961 to 2024) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip

MLA 9

Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Cattle, stocks, head (item 866, element 5111), Number of cattle, China, 1961 to 2024. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 31 Dec. 2025, https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/cattle-population/china. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2025. Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Cattle, stocks, head (item 866, element 5111). Number of cattle, China, 1961 to 2024. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/cattle-population/china.

Harvard

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Cattle, stocks, head (item 866, element 5111), Number of cattle, China, 1961 to 2024 [Dataset]. Available at: https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/cattle-population/china (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{food_number_of_cattle_china_2024,
  author = {{Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations}},
  title = {{Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Cattle, stocks, head (item 866, element 5111): Number of cattle, China, 1961 to 2024}},
  year = {2025},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/cattle-population/china. Publisher attribution: FAO. 2025. FAOSTAT: Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Cattle, stocks, head (item 866, element 5111). Accessed on 2026-10-12. https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production\_Crops\_Livestock\_E\_All\_Data\_\%28Normalized\%29.zip Licence: CC-BY-4.0. FAO does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
TI  - Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Cattle, stocks, head (item 866, element 5111): Number of cattle, China, 1961 to 2024
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/31
PB  - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/cattle-population/china
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/cattle-population/china.
N1  - Publisher attribution: FAO. 2025. FAOSTAT: Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Cattle, stocks, head (item 866, element 5111). Accessed on 2026-10-12. https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip Licence: CC-BY-4.0. FAO does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.
ER  -
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Questions

What is the number of cattle in China?

Number of cattle in China was 70,325,500 head in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. That is down 4.4% from 2023. That is the 5th highest of 190 countries in 2024.

Where does this figure come from?

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Cattle, stocks, head (item 866, element 5111). Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-12.

What was the highest number of cattle in China?

108,760,000 head in 1996, the highest value since 1961 in this series.

Number of cattle in other countries

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