Data / Number of cattle / United Kingdom

Number of cattle in United Kingdom

Number of cattle in the United Kingdom was 9,411,871 head in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. That is down 1.5% from 2023. That is the 36th highest of 190 countries in 2024.

2024, head9,411,871
Change on 2023-1.5%
Rank36th of 190Countries ranked
Series high15,250,0431974
Series low9,411,8712024

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 United Kingdom, 1961 to 2024

8M10M12M14M16M19611971198119912001201120241961: 11,977,998 head1962: 11,900,559 head1963: 11,756,825 head1964: 11,668,559 head1965: 11,987,860 head1966: 12,252,059 head1967: 12,386,952 head1968: 12,195,367 head1969: 12,418,986 head1970: 12,627,516 head1971: 12,850,620 head1972: 13,529,612 head1973: 14,492,291 head1974: 15,250,043 head1975: 14,764,084 head1976: 14,069,000 head1977: 13,712,000 head1978: 13,568,000 head1979: 13,538,000 head1980: 13,363,000 head1981: 13,062,000 head1982: 13,244,000 head1983: 13,290,000 head1984: 13,213,000 head1985: 12,911,000 head1986: 12,533,000 head1987: 12,170,000 head1988: 11,884,000 head1989: 11,975,000 head1990: 12,079,000 head1991: 11,885,000 head1992: 11,924,000 head1993: 11,851,000 head1994: 11,954,000 head1995: 11,857,000 head1996: 12,040,000 head1997: 11,633,000 head1998: 11,519,000 head1999: 11,423,000 head2000: 11,133,000 head2001: 10,600,000 head2002: 10,343,000 head2003: 10,517,000 head2004: 10,551,000 head2005: 10,770,200 head2006: 10,579,000 head2007: 10,304,000 head2008: 10,107,000 head2009: 10,025,000 head2010: 10,112,000 head2011: 9,933,000 head2012: 9,900,000 head2013: 9,844,000 head2014: 9,837,000 head2015: 9,919,000 head2016: 10,033,000 head2017: 10,004,000 head2018: 9,892,000 head2019: 9,739,000 head2020: 9,615,000 head2021: 9,603,000 head2022: 9,631,892 head2023: 9,555,426 head2024: 9,411,871 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
20249,411,871
20239,555,426
20229,631,892
20219,603,000
20209,615,000
20199,739,000
20189,892,000
201710,004,000
201610,033,000
20159,919,000
20149,837,000
20139,844,000
20129,900,000
20119,933,000
201010,112,000
200910,025,000
200810,107,000
200710,304,000
200610,579,000
200510,770,200
200410,551,000
200310,517,000
200210,343,000
200110,600,000
200011,133,000
199911,423,000
199811,519,000
199711,633,000
199612,040,000
199511,857,000
199411,954,000
199311,851,000
199211,924,000
199111,885,000
199012,079,000
198911,975,000
198811,884,000
198712,170,000
198612,533,000
198512,911,000
198413,213,000
198313,290,000
198213,244,000
198113,062,000
198013,363,000
197913,538,000
197813,568,000
197713,712,000
197614,069,000
197514,764,084
197415,250,043
197314,492,291
197213,529,612
197112,850,620
197012,627,516
196912,418,986
196812,195,367
196712,386,952
196612,252,059
196511,987,860
196411,668,559
196311,756,825
196211,900,559
196111,977,998

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, United Kingdom, 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, United Kingdom, 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/united-kingdom. 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, United Kingdom, 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/united-kingdom.

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, United Kingdom, 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/united-kingdom (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{food_number_of_cattle_united_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, United Kingdom, 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/united-kingdom. 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, United Kingdom, 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/united-kingdom
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/cattle-population/united-kingdom.
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 United Kingdom?

Number of cattle in the United Kingdom was 9,411,871 head in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. That is down 1.5% from 2023. That is the 36th 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 United Kingdom?

15,250,043 head in 1974, the highest value since 1961 in this series.

Number of cattle in other countries

Related statistics for United Kingdom

All statistics for United Kingdom | United Kingdom in figures