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 2021, at 17,330,080 head. Malta had the lowest, at 14,020 head. The median was 1,359,420 head. Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

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Highest17,330,080France
Lowest14,020Malta
Median1,359,42027 EU countries

Map of EU countries, 2021

Austria: 1,870,100 headBelgium: 2,310,440 headBulgaria: 611,200 headCyprus: 84,610 headCzechia: 1,359,420 headGermany: 11,039,660 headDenmark: 1,480,000 headEstonia: 250,800 headSpain: 6,576,300 headFinland: 829,980 headFrance: 17,330,080 headGreece: 614,100 headCroatia: 428,000 headHungary: 909,900 headIreland: 6,649,310 headItaly: 6,280,280 headLithuania: 628,700 headLuxembourg: 187,200 headLatvia: 393,470 headMalta: 14,020 headNetherlands: 3,705,000 headPoland: 6,378,700 headPortugal: 1,640,650 headRomania: 1,826,800 headSweden: 1,389,890 headSlovenia: 482,620 headSlovakia: 434,090 head
  • Under 400K
  • 400K to 700K
  • 700K to 1.6M
  • 1.6M to 5.8M
  • 5.8M and over
head, 2021. Source: FAOSTAT, Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Cattle, stocks, head (item 866, element 5111). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2021

France: 17,330,080 headFrance17,330,080Germany: 11,039,660 headGermany11,039,660Ireland: 6,649,310 headIreland6,649,310Spain: 6,576,300 headSpain6,576,300Poland: 6,378,700 headPoland6,378,700Italy: 6,280,280 headItaly6,280,280Netherlands: 3,705,000 headNetherlands3,705,000Belgium: 2,310,440 headBelgium2,310,440Austria: 1,870,100 headAustria1,870,100Romania: 1,826,800 headRomania1,826,800Portugal: 1,640,650 headPortugal1,640,650Denmark: 1,480,000 headDenmark1,480,000Sweden: 1,389,890 headSweden1,389,890Czechia: 1,359,420 headCzechia1,359,420Hungary: 909,900 headHungary909,900Finland: 829,980 headFinland829,980Lithuania: 628,700 headLithuania628,700Greece: 614,100 headGreece614,100Bulgaria: 611,200 headBulgaria611,200Slovenia: 482,620 headSlovenia482,620Slovakia: 434,090 headSlovakia434,090Croatia: 428,000 headCroatia428,000Latvia: 393,470 headLatvia393,470Estonia: 250,800 headEstonia250,800Luxembourg: 187,200 headLuxembourg187,200Cyprus: 84,610 headCyprus84,610Malta: 14,020 headMalta14,020France: 17,330,080 headFrance17,330,080Germany: 11,039,660 headGermany11,039,660Ireland: 6,649,310 headIreland6,649,310Spain: 6,576,300 headSpain6,576,300Poland: 6,378,700 headPoland6,378,700Italy: 6,280,280 headItaly6,280,280Netherlands: 3,705,000 headNetherlands3,705,000Belgium: 2,310,440 headBelgium2,310,440Austria: 1,870,100 headAustria1,870,100Romania: 1,826,800 headRomania1,826,800Portugal: 1,640,650 headPortugal1,640,650Denmark: 1,480,000 headDenmark1,480,000Sweden: 1,389,890 headSweden1,389,890Czechia: 1,359,420 headCzechia1,359,420Hungary: 909,900 headHungary909,900Finland: 829,980 headFinland829,980Lithuania: 628,700 headLithuania628,700Greece: 614,100 headGreece614,100Bulgaria: 611,200 headBulgaria611,200Slovenia: 482,620 headSlovenia482,620Slovakia: 434,090 headSlovakia434,090Croatia: 428,000 headCroatia428,000Latvia: 393,470 headLatvia393,470Estonia: 250,800 headEstonia250,800Luxembourg: 187,200 headLuxembourg187,200Cyprus: 84,610 headCyprus84,610Malta: 14,020 headMalta14,020
head. Source: FAOSTAT, Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Cattle, stocks, head (item 866, element 5111). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2021
head		Change on 2020
1France17,330,080-2.7%
2Germany11,039,660-2.3%
3Ireland6,649,310+1.8%
4Spain6,576,300-0.9%
5Poland6,378,700+1.6%
6Italy6,280,280-1.9%
7Netherlands3,705,000+0.4%
8Belgium2,310,440-1.1%
9Austria1,870,100+0.8%
10Romania1,826,800-2.6%
11Portugal1,640,650-3%
12Denmark1,480,000-1.3%
13Sweden1,389,890-0.1%
14Czechia1,359,420+1.4%
15Hungary909,900-2.5%
16Finland829,980-0.6%
17Lithuania628,700-0.1%
18Greece614,100-2.8%
19Bulgaria611,200+3.8%
20Slovenia482,620-0.6%
21Slovakia434,090-1.9%
22Croatia428,000+1.2%
23Latvia393,470-1.4%
24Estonia250,800-1%
25Luxembourg187,200-1.8%
26Cyprus84,610+1.9%
27Malta14,020-1.9%

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, 2021) [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, 2021. 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=2021. 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, 2021. 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=2021.

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, 2021 [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=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{food_eu_countries_by_number_2021,
  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, 2021}},
  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=2021. 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, 2021
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=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/cattle-population/eu-countries?period=2021.
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 17,330,080 head in 2021, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Which EU country has the lowest number of cattle?

Malta, with 14,020 head in 2021.

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