Data / Number of cattle / Ireland

Number of cattle in Ireland

Number of cattle in Ireland was 6,308,300 head in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. That is down 3.3% from 2023. That is the 3rd highest of 27 EU countries in 2024.

2024, head6,308,300
Change on 2023-3.3%
Rank3rd of 27EU countries ranked
Series high7,363,4982017
Series low4,179,2001962

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 Ireland, 1961 to 2024

4M5M6M7M8M19611971198119912001201120241961: 4,291,200 head1962: 4,179,200 head1963: 4,300,600 head1964: 4,368,800 head1965: 4,524,200 head1966: 4,945,700 head1967: 5,149,900 head1968: 5,030,300 head1969: 5,086,300 head1970: 5,229,000 head1971: 5,405,000 head1972: 5,516,000 head1973: 5,945,700 head1974: 6,408,000 head1975: 6,499,600 head1976: 6,213,700 head1977: 6,210,000 head1978: 6,245,500 head1979: 6,132,100 head1980: 6,170,900 head1981: 5,825,500 head1982: 5,763,200 head1983: 5,795,200 head1984: 5,830,500 head1985: 5,860,900 head1986: 5,813,000 head1987: 5,670,300 head1988: 5,632,700 head1989: 5,698,700 head1990: 5,969,100 head1991: 6,100,500 head1992: 6,147,400 head1993: 6,236,400 head1994: 6,263,900 head1995: 6,343,900 head1996: 6,450,600 head1997: 6,660,900 head1998: 6,881,600 head1999: 6,951,700 head2000: 7,037,400 head2001: 7,049,700 head2002: 6,992,200 head2003: 6,999,500 head2004: 7,015,600 head2005: 6,991,800 head2006: 6,977,800 head2007: 6,890,900 head2008: 6,902,100 head2009: 6,890,700 head2010: 6,606,600 head2011: 6,493,000 head2012: 6,754,100 head2013: 6,902,600 head2014: 6,926,100 head2015: 6,963,500 head2016: 7,221,200 head2017: 7,363,498 head2018: 6,593,490 head2019: 6,559,650 head2020: 6,529,440 head2021: 6,649,310 head2022: 6,551,830 head2023: 6,525,960 head2024: 6,308,300 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
20246,308,300
20236,525,960
20226,551,830
20216,649,310
20206,529,440
20196,559,650
20186,593,490
20177,363,498
20167,221,200
20156,963,500
20146,926,100
20136,902,600
20126,754,100
20116,493,000
20106,606,600
20096,890,700
20086,902,100
20076,890,900
20066,977,800
20056,991,800
20047,015,600
20036,999,500
20026,992,200
20017,049,700
20007,037,400
19996,951,700
19986,881,600
19976,660,900
19966,450,600
19956,343,900
19946,263,900
19936,236,400
19926,147,400
19916,100,500
19905,969,100
19895,698,700
19885,632,700
19875,670,300
19865,813,000
19855,860,900
19845,830,500
19835,795,200
19825,763,200
19815,825,500
19806,170,900
19796,132,100
19786,245,500
19776,210,000
19766,213,700
19756,499,600
19746,408,000
19735,945,700
19725,516,000
19715,405,000
19705,229,000
19695,086,300
19685,030,300
19675,149,900
19664,945,700
19654,524,200
19644,368,800
19634,300,600
19624,179,200
19614,291,200

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, Ireland, 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, Ireland, 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/ireland. 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, Ireland, 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/ireland.

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, Ireland, 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/ireland (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

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

Number of cattle in Ireland was 6,308,300 head in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. That is down 3.3% from 2023. That is the 3rd 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 Ireland?

7,363,498 head in 2017, the highest value since 1961 in this series.

Number of cattle elsewhere in European Union (27)

Related statistics for Ireland

All statistics for Ireland | Ireland in figures