Data / Number of cattle / France

Number of cattle in France

Number of cattle in France was 16,478,260 head in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. That is down 2% from 2023. That is the 1st highest of 27 EU countries in 2024.

2024, head16,478,260
Change on 2023-2%
Rank1st of 27EU countries ranked
Series high24,077,0081976
Series low16,478,2602024

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 France, 1961 to 2024

16M18M20M22M24M26M19611971198119912001201120241961: 19,501,008 head1962: 20,583,008 head1963: 20,286,000 head1964: 20,040,608 head1965: 20,243,904 head1966: 20,640,304 head1967: 21,183,904 head1968: 21,679,008 head1969: 21,565,504 head1970: 21,719,296 head1971: 21,723,008 head1972: 21,764,096 head1973: 22,508,608 head1974: 23,701,008 head1975: 24,040,000 head1976: 24,077,008 head1977: 23,840,000 head1978: 23,761,904 head1979: 23,906,000 head1980: 23,919,088 head1981: 23,650,000 head1982: 23,493,008 head1983: 23,656,000 head1984: 23,893,008 head1985: 23,480,976 head1986: 23,289,888 head1987: 21,967,008 head1988: 21,340,000 head1989: 21,377,008 head1990: 21,394,000 head1991: 21,097,138 head1992: 20,654,916 head1993: 20,446,184 head1994: 20,450,490 head1995: 20,540,297 head1996: 20,507,820 head1997: 20,205,040 head1998: 20,051,494 head1999: 20,066,844 head2000: 21,256,247 head2001: 21,137,970 head2002: 20,461,291 head2003: 19,772,441 head2004: 19,516,224 head2005: 19,421,068 head2006: 19,534,688 head2007: 19,885,156 head2008: 20,046,940 head2009: 19,805,378 head2010: 19,555,173 head2011: 19,085,561 head2012: 19,005,649 head2013: 19,095,797 head2014: 19,248,627 head2015: 19,386,522 head2016: 19,373,382 head2017: 18,953,568 head2018: 18,613,040 head2019: 18,172,970 head2020: 17,815,670 head2021: 17,330,080 head2022: 16,986,190 head2023: 16,806,900 head2024: 16,478,260 head16M18M20M22M24M26M19611983200520241961: 19,501,008 head1962: 20,583,008 head1963: 20,286,000 head1964: 20,040,608 head1965: 20,243,904 head1966: 20,640,304 head1967: 21,183,904 head1968: 21,679,008 head1969: 21,565,504 head1970: 21,719,296 head1971: 21,723,008 head1972: 21,764,096 head1973: 22,508,608 head1974: 23,701,008 head1975: 24,040,000 head1976: 24,077,008 head1977: 23,840,000 head1978: 23,761,904 head1979: 23,906,000 head1980: 23,919,088 head1981: 23,650,000 head1982: 23,493,008 head1983: 23,656,000 head1984: 23,893,008 head1985: 23,480,976 head1986: 23,289,888 head1987: 21,967,008 head1988: 21,340,000 head1989: 21,377,008 head1990: 21,394,000 head1991: 21,097,138 head1992: 20,654,916 head1993: 20,446,184 head1994: 20,450,490 head1995: 20,540,297 head1996: 20,507,820 head1997: 20,205,040 head1998: 20,051,494 head1999: 20,066,844 head2000: 21,256,247 head2001: 21,137,970 head2002: 20,461,291 head2003: 19,772,441 head2004: 19,516,224 head2005: 19,421,068 head2006: 19,534,688 head2007: 19,885,156 head2008: 20,046,940 head2009: 19,805,378 head2010: 19,555,173 head2011: 19,085,561 head2012: 19,005,649 head2013: 19,095,797 head2014: 19,248,627 head2015: 19,386,522 head2016: 19,373,382 head2017: 18,953,568 head2018: 18,613,040 head2019: 18,172,970 head2020: 17,815,670 head2021: 17,330,080 head2022: 16,986,190 head2023: 16,806,900 head2024: 16,478,260 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
202416,478,260
202316,806,900
202216,986,190
202117,330,080
202017,815,670
201918,172,970
201818,613,040
201718,953,568
201619,373,382
201519,386,522
201419,248,627
201319,095,797
201219,005,649
201119,085,561
201019,555,173
200919,805,378
200820,046,940
200719,885,156
200619,534,688
200519,421,068
200419,516,224
200319,772,441
200220,461,291
200121,137,970
200021,256,247
199920,066,844
199820,051,494
199720,205,040
199620,507,820
199520,540,297
199420,450,490
199320,446,184
199220,654,916
199121,097,138
199021,394,000
198921,377,008
198821,340,000
198721,967,008
198623,289,888
198523,480,976
198423,893,008
198323,656,000
198223,493,008
198123,650,000
198023,919,088
197923,906,000
197823,761,904
197723,840,000
197624,077,008
197524,040,000
197423,701,008
197322,508,608
197221,764,096
197121,723,008
197021,719,296
196921,565,504
196821,679,008
196721,183,904
196620,640,304
196520,243,904
196420,040,608
196320,286,000
196220,583,008
196119,501,008

France compared with nearby places

Austria: 1,820,030 headBelgium: 2,153,430 headBulgaria: 558,770 headCyprus: 82,680 headCzechia: 1,397,410 headGermany: 10,461,290 headDenmark: 1,413,860 headEstonia: 232,390 headSpain: 6,173,960 headFinland: 764,030 headFrance: 16,478,260 headGreece: 595,200 headCroatia: 422,000 headHungary: 869,900 headIreland: 6,308,300 headItaly: 5,765,000 headLithuania: 599,770 headLuxembourg: 180,530 headLatvia: 352,090 headMalta: 13,800 headNetherlands: 3,562,000 headPoland: 6,190,930 headPortugal: 1,486,910 headRomania: 1,809,400 headSweden: 1,333,820 headSlovenia: 453,890 headSlovakia: 416,680 head
  • Under 400K
  • 400K to 700K
  • 700K to 1.5M
  • 1.5M to 5.3M
  • 5.3M and over
Number of cattle, 2024, head. France is outlined. Same source and period for every area shown. Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

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.

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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

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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, France, 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, France, 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/france. 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, France, 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/france.

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, France, 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/france (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{food_number_of_cattle_france_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, France, 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/france. 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, France, 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/france
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/cattle-population/france.
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 France?

Number of cattle in France was 16,478,260 head in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. That is down 2% from 2023. That is the 1st highest of 27 EU 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 France?

24,077,008 head in 1976, the highest value since 1961 in this series.

Number of cattle elsewhere in European Union (27)

Related statistics for France

All statistics for France | France in figures