Data / Number of cattle / Italy

Number of cattle in Italy

Number of cattle in Italy was 5,765,000 head in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. That is down 3.9% from 2023. That is the 6th highest of 27 EU countries in 2024.

2024, head5,765,000
Change on 2023-3.9%
Rank6th of 27EU countries ranked
Series high10,024,0001969
Series low5,756,0722014

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 Italy, 1961 to 2024

5M6M7M8M9M10M11M19611971198119912001201120241961: 9,826,800 head1962: 9,519,980 head1963: 9,152,010 head1964: 8,608,200 head1965: 9,182,600 head1966: 9,386,000 head1967: 9,503,000 head1968: 9,538,900 head1969: 10,024,000 head1970: 9,563,000 head1971: 8,721,290 head1972: 8,611,200 head1973: 8,737,800 head1974: 8,407,500 head1975: 8,153,400 head1976: 8,446,200 head1977: 8,736,900 head1978: 8,487,300 head1979: 8,638,800 head1980: 8,719,300 head1981: 8,733,600 head1982: 8,796,900 head1983: 7,550,000 head1984: 9,112,700 head1985: 9,106,000 head1986: 8,907,800 head1987: 8,819,000 head1988: 8,793,500 head1989: 8,736,800 head1990: 8,745,900 head1991: 8,140,000 head1992: 8,004,000 head1993: 7,600,300 head1994: 7,458,900 head1995: 7,163,600 head1996: 7,265,100 head1997: 7,162,500 head1998: 7,166,000 head1999: 7,129,000 head2000: 7,162,000 head2001: 6,050,000 head2002: 6,739,000 head2003: 6,504,703 head2004: 6,504,000 head2005: 6,304,000 head2006: 6,255,000 head2007: 6,117,000 head2008: 6,283,000 head2009: 6,179,000 head2010: 6,103,000 head2011: 5,832,457 head2012: 6,091,471 head2013: 5,846,672 head2014: 5,756,072 head2015: 5,781,348 head2016: 5,929,767 head2017: 5,949,393 head2018: 6,311,160 head2019: 6,377,230 head2020: 6,400,040 head2021: 6,280,280 head2022: 6,049,000 head2023: 5,999,000 head2024: 5,765,000 head4M6M8M10M12M19611983200520241961: 9,826,800 head1962: 9,519,980 head1963: 9,152,010 head1964: 8,608,200 head1965: 9,182,600 head1966: 9,386,000 head1967: 9,503,000 head1968: 9,538,900 head1969: 10,024,000 head1970: 9,563,000 head1971: 8,721,290 head1972: 8,611,200 head1973: 8,737,800 head1974: 8,407,500 head1975: 8,153,400 head1976: 8,446,200 head1977: 8,736,900 head1978: 8,487,300 head1979: 8,638,800 head1980: 8,719,300 head1981: 8,733,600 head1982: 8,796,900 head1983: 7,550,000 head1984: 9,112,700 head1985: 9,106,000 head1986: 8,907,800 head1987: 8,819,000 head1988: 8,793,500 head1989: 8,736,800 head1990: 8,745,900 head1991: 8,140,000 head1992: 8,004,000 head1993: 7,600,300 head1994: 7,458,900 head1995: 7,163,600 head1996: 7,265,100 head1997: 7,162,500 head1998: 7,166,000 head1999: 7,129,000 head2000: 7,162,000 head2001: 6,050,000 head2002: 6,739,000 head2003: 6,504,703 head2004: 6,504,000 head2005: 6,304,000 head2006: 6,255,000 head2007: 6,117,000 head2008: 6,283,000 head2009: 6,179,000 head2010: 6,103,000 head2011: 5,832,457 head2012: 6,091,471 head2013: 5,846,672 head2014: 5,756,072 head2015: 5,781,348 head2016: 5,929,767 head2017: 5,949,393 head2018: 6,311,160 head2019: 6,377,230 head2020: 6,400,040 head2021: 6,280,280 head2022: 6,049,000 head2023: 5,999,000 head2024: 5,765,000 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
20245,765,000
20235,999,000
20226,049,000
20216,280,280
20206,400,040
20196,377,230
20186,311,160
20175,949,393
20165,929,767
20155,781,348
20145,756,072
20135,846,672
20126,091,471
20115,832,457
20106,103,000
20096,179,000
20086,283,000
20076,117,000
20066,255,000
20056,304,000
20046,504,000
20036,504,703
20026,739,000
20016,050,000
20007,162,000
19997,129,000
19987,166,000
19977,162,500
19967,265,100
19957,163,600
19947,458,900
19937,600,300
19928,004,000
19918,140,000
19908,745,900
19898,736,800
19888,793,500
19878,819,000
19868,907,800
19859,106,000
19849,112,700
19837,550,000
19828,796,900
19818,733,600
19808,719,300
19798,638,800
19788,487,300
19778,736,900
19768,446,200
19758,153,400
19748,407,500
19738,737,800
19728,611,200
19718,721,290
19709,563,000
196910,024,000
19689,538,900
19679,503,000
19669,386,000
19659,182,600
19648,608,200
19639,152,010
19629,519,980
19619,826,800

Italy 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. Italy 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, Italy, 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, Italy, 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/italy. 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, Italy, 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/italy.

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, Italy, 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/italy (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

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

Number of cattle in Italy was 5,765,000 head in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. That is down 3.9% from 2023. That is the 6th 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 Italy?

10,024,000 head in 1969, the highest value since 1961 in this series.

Number of cattle elsewhere in European Union (27)

Related statistics for Italy

All statistics for Italy | Italy in figures