New Zealand vs South Africa: Cattle — Stocks

New Zealand
8.58 million LSU
in 2023
South Africa
8.54 million LSU
in 2023
New Zealand rank
28th
South Africa rank
30th

Cattle — Stocks over time

  • New Zealand
  • South Africa
02.0M4.0M6.0M8.0M10.0M196119922023

How they compare

New Zealand currently reports 8.58 million LSU against 8.54 million LSU in South Africa, a difference of 46,140 LSU.

The two have swapped places 3 times across 63 shared years of data; in 1961 it was South Africa ahead.

New Zealand ranks 28th and South Africa ranks 30th of 190 countries.

Across the 7 decades both report, New Zealand averaged higher in 1 and South Africa in 6.

Head to head by decade

Decade New Zealand South Africa Difference Ahead
1960s 6.50 million LSU 8.21 million LSU 1.70 million LSU South Africa
1970s 7.84 million LSU 8.68 million LSU 843,595 LSU South Africa
1980s 7.16 million LSU 8.87 million LSU 1.71 million LSU South Africa
1990s 7.81 million LSU 9.27 million LSU 1.46 million LSU South Africa
2000s 8.62 million LSU 9.57 million LSU 949,650 LSU South Africa
2010s 9.11 million LSU 9.42 million LSU 307,396 LSU South Africa
2020s 8.89 million LSU 8.56 million LSU 330,840 LSU New Zealand

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher cattle — stocks, New Zealand or South Africa?
New Zealand, at 8.58 million LSU against 8.54 million LSU in South Africa as of 2023.
What is the difference in cattle — stocks between New Zealand and South Africa?
46,140 LSU, with New Zealand ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for New Zealand and South Africa?
63 years are reported by both, from 1961 to 2023.
How do New Zealand and South Africa rank globally for cattle — stocks?
New Zealand ranks 28th and South Africa ranks 30th of 190 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as Cattle — Stocks. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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New Zealand vs South Africa: Cattle — Stocks. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 26 August 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/compare/cattle-stocks/new-zealand/south-africa/

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About this data

Indicator
Cattle — Stocks
Unit
LSU
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
241 places, 13,793 data points, 1961–2023
Last refreshed

The Livestock Patterns domain of FAOSTAT contains data on livestock numbers, shares of major livestock species and densities of livestock units in the agricultural land area. Values are calculated using Livestock Units (LSU), which facilitate aggregating information for different livestock types. Data are available by country, with global coverage, for the period 1961 to the most recent year available with annual updates. This methodology applies the LSU coefficients reported in the "Guidelines for the preparation of livestock sector reviews" (FAO, 2011). From this publication, LSU coefficients are computed by livestock type and by country. The reference unit used for the calculation of livestock units (=1 LSU) is the grazing equivalent of one adult dairy cow producing 3000 kg of milk annually, fed without additional concentrated foodstuffs. FAOSTAT agri-environmental indicators on livestock patterns closely follow the structure of the indicators in EUROSTAT.