Nearly as many pigs as people in Belgium

Last year there were 12 million pigs slaughtered in Belgium, a record high, writes Het Belang van Limburg based on figures from the Agricultural Statistics Division of the FPS Economy. The figures also show that Belgium has nearly as many pigs as people.

Of all large livestock (cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and horses), pigs make up the largest group by far, with more than 10 million animals, close to the population of Belgium, with 11 million people.

Pigs are followed by cattle with 3.4 million animals, although beef production has gone down over the past 20 years, both in weight and in number of cattle slaughtered. Pork production, by contrast, has gone up since 2010, reaching a record high of 12 million pigs slaughtered in Belgium in 2013.

Outside of large livestock, poultry makes up the largest group of animals with 70 million.