EU countries by number of cattle
France had the highest number of cattle of 27 EU countries in 2017, at 18,953,568 head. Malta had the lowest, at 14,184 head. The median was 1,421,242 head. Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
All EU countries, 2017
Full ranking
| Rank | EU countries | 2017 | Change on 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | 18,953,568 | -2.2% |
| 2 | Germany | 12,281,195 | -1.5% |
| 3 | Ireland | 7,363,498 | +2% |
| 4 | Spain | 6,465,747 | +3.3% |
| 5 | Poland | 6,143,083 | +3.4% |
| 6 | Italy | 5,949,393 | +0.3% |
| 7 | Netherlands | 4,030,000 | -6.1% |
| 8 | Belgium | 2,385,988 | -4.6% |
| 9 | Romania | 2,049,700 | -2% |
| 10 | Austria | 1,954,391 | -0.2% |
| 11 | Portugal | 1,670,000 | +2.1% |
| 12 | Denmark | 1,545,417 | -1.5% |
| 13 | Sweden | 1,448,590 | +0.9% |
| 14 | Czechia | 1,421,242 | +0.4% |
| 15 | Finland | 893,178 | -1.7% |
| 16 | Hungary | 852,000 | +3.8% |
| 17 | Lithuania | 694,752 | -3.9% |
| 18 | Greece | 610,690 | +0.3% |
| 19 | Bulgaria | 557,866 | +1.4% |
| 20 | Slovenia | 488,598 | +0.9% |
| 21 | Croatia | 450,757 | +1.4% |
| 22 | Slovakia | 446,112 | -2.5% |
| 23 | Latvia | 412,314 | -1.6% |
| 24 | Estonia | 250,900 | +1.1% |
| 25 | Luxembourg | 202,281 | +0.4% |
| 26 | Cyprus | 66,862 | +5.9% |
| 27 | Malta | 14,184 | -1.2% |
Other periods
About this ranking
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.
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the EU countries are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.
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
APA 7
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2025). Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Cattle, stocks, head (item 866, element 5111) (EU countries by number of cattle, 2017) [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), EU countries by number of cattle, 2017. 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/rankings/cattle-population/eu-countries?period=2017. 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). EU countries by number of cattle, 2017. 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/rankings/cattle-population/eu-countries?period=2017.
Harvard
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Cattle, stocks, head (item 866, element 5111), EU countries by number of cattle, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/cattle-population/eu-countries?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{food_eu_countries_by_number_2017,
author = {{Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations}},
title = {{Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Cattle, stocks, head (item 866, element 5111): EU countries by number of cattle, 2017}},
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/rankings/cattle-population/eu-countries?period=2017. 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): EU countries by number of cattle, 2017
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/rankings/cattle-population/eu-countries?period=2017
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/cattle-population/eu-countries?period=2017.
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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Rank EU countries by number of cattle using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"cattle_stocks","level":"country","within":"European Union (27)","limit":10}
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Which EU country has the highest number of cattle?
France, with 18,953,568 head in 2017, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Which EU country has the lowest number of cattle?
Malta, with 14,184 head in 2017.
Where does this ranking come from?
Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Cattle, stocks, head (item 866, element 5111). Retrieved 2026-10-12.