Number of cattle in Portugal

Number of cattle in Portugal was 1,486,910 head in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. That is down 2.7% from 2023. That is the 11th highest of 27 EU countries in 2024.

2024, head1,486,910
Change on 2023-2.7%
Rank11th of 27EU countries ranked
Series high1,691,3202020
Series low1,050,0001967

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 Portugal, 1961 to 2024

1M1.2M1.4M1.6M1.8M19611971198119912001201120241961: 1,108,000 head1962: 1,114,000 head1963: 1,127,000 head1964: 1,141,000 head1965: 1,108,000 head1966: 1,080,000 head1967: 1,050,000 head1968: 1,130,264 head1969: 1,244,000 head1970: 1,259,000 head1971: 1,253,000 head1972: 1,266,000 head1973: 1,273,097 head1974: 1,072,000 head1975: 1,150,000 head1976: 1,080,000 head1977: 1,210,000 head1978: 1,287,000 head1979: 1,294,000 head1980: 1,324,000 head1981: 1,379,000 head1982: 1,369,000 head1983: 1,302,000 head1984: 1,283,000 head1985: 1,297,000 head1986: 1,310,000 head1987: 1,332,000 head1988: 1,371,000 head1989: 1,359,000 head1990: 1,392,000 head1991: 1,367,000 head1992: 1,398,000 head1993: 1,336,000 head1994: 1,348,000 head1995: 1,363,000 head1996: 1,386,000 head1997: 1,389,000 head1998: 1,386,000 head1999: 1,409,000 head2000: 1,421,000 head2001: 1,414,000 head2002: 1,404,000 head2003: 1,395,000 head2004: 1,389,000 head2005: 1,443,000 head2006: 1,440,800 head2007: 1,452,000 head2008: 1,491,000 head2009: 1,495,000 head2010: 1,447,000 head2011: 1,503,000 head2012: 1,497,500 head2013: 1,471,000 head2014: 1,549,000 head2015: 1,606,000 head2016: 1,635,000 head2017: 1,670,000 head2018: 1,632,420 head2019: 1,674,970 head2020: 1,691,320 head2021: 1,640,650 head2022: 1,579,140 head2023: 1,527,720 head2024: 1,486,910 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
20241,486,910
20231,527,720
20221,579,140
20211,640,650
20201,691,320
20191,674,970
20181,632,420
20171,670,000
20161,635,000
20151,606,000
20141,549,000
20131,471,000
20121,497,500
20111,503,000
20101,447,000
20091,495,000
20081,491,000
20071,452,000
20061,440,800
20051,443,000
20041,389,000
20031,395,000
20021,404,000
20011,414,000
20001,421,000
19991,409,000
19981,386,000
19971,389,000
19961,386,000
19951,363,000
19941,348,000
19931,336,000
19921,398,000
19911,367,000
19901,392,000
19891,359,000
19881,371,000
19871,332,000
19861,310,000
19851,297,000
19841,283,000
19831,302,000
19821,369,000
19811,379,000
19801,324,000
19791,294,000
19781,287,000
19771,210,000
19761,080,000
19751,150,000
19741,072,000
19731,273,097
19721,266,000
19711,253,000
19701,259,000
19691,244,000
19681,130,264
19671,050,000
19661,080,000
19651,108,000
19641,141,000
19631,127,000
19621,114,000
19611,108,000

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, Portugal, 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, Portugal, 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/portugal. 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, Portugal, 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/portugal.

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, Portugal, 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/portugal (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

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

Number of cattle in Portugal was 1,486,910 head in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. That is down 2.7% from 2023. That is the 11th 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 Portugal?

1,691,320 head in 2020, the highest value since 1961 in this series.

Number of cattle elsewhere in European Union (27)

Related statistics for Portugal

All statistics for Portugal | Portugal in figures