Data / Rankings / Number of cattle / EU countries

EU countries by number of cattle

France had the highest number of cattle of 27 EU countries in 2019, at 18,172,970 head. Malta had the lowest, at 14,000 head. The median was 1,367,050 head. Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

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Highest18,172,970France
Lowest14,000Malta
Median1,367,05027 EU countries

Map of EU countries, 2019

Austria: 1,879,520 headBelgium: 2,373,100 headBulgaria: 527,190 headCyprus: 73,970 headCzechia: 1,367,050 headGermany: 11,639,530 headDenmark: 1,500,000 headEstonia: 254,000 headSpain: 6,600,330 headFinland: 840,740 headFrance: 18,172,970 headGreece: 530,000 headCroatia: 420,000 headHungary: 909,000 headIreland: 6,559,650 headItaly: 6,377,230 headLithuania: 634,600 headLuxembourg: 192,100 headLatvia: 395,320 headMalta: 14,000 headNetherlands: 3,721,000 headPoland: 6,261,600 headPortugal: 1,674,970 headRomania: 1,923,300 headSweden: 1,404,670 headSlovenia: 483,070 headSlovakia: 432,250 head
  • Under 400K
  • 400K to 700K
  • 700K to 1.6M
  • 1.6M to 5.8M
  • 5.8M and over
head, 2019. Source: FAOSTAT, Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Cattle, stocks, head (item 866, element 5111). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2019

France: 18,172,970 headFrance18,172,970Germany: 11,639,530 headGermany11,639,530Spain: 6,600,330 headSpain6,600,330Ireland: 6,559,650 headIreland6,559,650Italy: 6,377,230 headItaly6,377,230Poland: 6,261,600 headPoland6,261,600Netherlands: 3,721,000 headNetherlands3,721,000Belgium: 2,373,100 headBelgium2,373,100Romania: 1,923,300 headRomania1,923,300Austria: 1,879,520 headAustria1,879,520Portugal: 1,674,970 headPortugal1,674,970Denmark: 1,500,000 headDenmark1,500,000Sweden: 1,404,670 headSweden1,404,670Czechia: 1,367,050 headCzechia1,367,050Hungary: 909,000 headHungary909,000Finland: 840,740 headFinland840,740Lithuania: 634,600 headLithuania634,600Greece: 530,000 headGreece530,000Bulgaria: 527,190 headBulgaria527,190Slovenia: 483,070 headSlovenia483,070Slovakia: 432,250 headSlovakia432,250Croatia: 420,000 headCroatia420,000Latvia: 395,320 headLatvia395,320Estonia: 254,000 headEstonia254,000Luxembourg: 192,100 headLuxembourg192,100Cyprus: 73,970 headCyprus73,970Malta: 14,000 headMalta14,000France: 18,172,970 headFrance18,172,970Germany: 11,639,530 headGermany11,639,530Spain: 6,600,330 headSpain6,600,330Ireland: 6,559,650 headIreland6,559,650Italy: 6,377,230 headItaly6,377,230Poland: 6,261,600 headPoland6,261,600Netherlands: 3,721,000 headNetherlands3,721,000Belgium: 2,373,100 headBelgium2,373,100Romania: 1,923,300 headRomania1,923,300Austria: 1,879,520 headAustria1,879,520Portugal: 1,674,970 headPortugal1,674,970Denmark: 1,500,000 headDenmark1,500,000Sweden: 1,404,670 headSweden1,404,670Czechia: 1,367,050 headCzechia1,367,050Hungary: 909,000 headHungary909,000Finland: 840,740 headFinland840,740Lithuania: 634,600 headLithuania634,600Greece: 530,000 headGreece530,000Bulgaria: 527,190 headBulgaria527,190Slovenia: 483,070 headSlovenia483,070Slovakia: 432,250 headSlovakia432,250Croatia: 420,000 headCroatia420,000Latvia: 395,320 headLatvia395,320Estonia: 254,000 headEstonia254,000Luxembourg: 192,100 headLuxembourg192,100Cyprus: 73,970 headCyprus73,970Malta: 14,000 headMalta14,000
head. Source: FAOSTAT, Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Cattle, stocks, head (item 866, element 5111). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2019
head		Change on 2018
1France18,172,970-2.4%
2Germany11,639,530-2.6%
3Spain6,600,330+1.4%
4Ireland6,559,650-0.5%
5Italy6,377,230+1%
6Poland6,261,600+1.3%
7Netherlands3,721,000+0.8%
8Belgium2,373,100-1%
9Romania1,923,300-2.7%
10Austria1,879,520-1.7%
11Portugal1,674,970+2.6%
12Denmark1,500,000-2%
13Sweden1,404,670-2.1%
14Czechia1,367,050+0.1%
15Hungary909,000+2.7%
16Finland840,740-2.2%
17Lithuania634,600-2.9%
18Greece530,000-2.2%
19Bulgaria527,190-2.8%
20Slovenia483,070+1.3%
21Slovakia432,250-1.5%
22Croatia420,000+1.4%
23Latvia395,320-0%
24Estonia254,000+0.8%
25Luxembourg192,100-1.2%
26Cyprus73,970+4.4%
27Malta14,000-0.8%

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

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) (EU countries by number of cattle, 2019) [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, 2019. 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=2019. 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, 2019. 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=2019.

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, 2019 [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=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{food_eu_countries_by_number_2019,
  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, 2019}},
  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=2019. 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, 2019
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=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/cattle-population/eu-countries?period=2019.
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

Which EU country has the highest number of cattle?

France, with 18,172,970 head in 2019, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Which EU country has the lowest number of cattle?

Malta, with 14,000 head in 2019.

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.

Number of cattle: other rankings

EU countries: more rankings