Cattle and Buffaloes — Livestock units per agricultural land area in New Zealand
New Zealand: Cattle and Buffaloes — Livestock units per agricultural land area was 0.88 LSU/ha in 2023. ▲ Rising
Cattle and Buffaloes — Livestock units per agricultural land area in New Zealand, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in LSU/ha.
Analysis
New Zealand recorded 0.88 LSU/ha for cattle and buffaloes — livestock units per agricultural land area in 2023.
The figure is down 2.2% on the previous year and up 6.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cattle and buffaloes — livestock units per agricultural land area in New Zealand peaked at 0.9 LSU/ha in 2021 and was at its lowest, 0.44 LSU/ha, in 1961.
New Zealand ranks 15th of 190 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.
Cattle and Buffaloes — Livestock units per agricultural land area in New Zealand, year by year
| Year | LSU/ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 0.44 LSU/ha | — |
| 1962 | 0.45 LSU/ha | +2.3% |
| 1963 | 0.45 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 0.45 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 0.46 LSU/ha | +2.2% |
| 1966 | 0.49 LSU/ha | +6.5% |
| 1967 | 0.53 LSU/ha | +8.2% |
| 1968 | 0.56 LSU/ha | +5.7% |
| 1969 | 0.59 LSU/ha | +5.4% |
| 1970 | 0.6 LSU/ha | +1.7% |
| 1971 | 0.55 LSU/ha | -8.3% |
| 1972 | 0.58 LSU/ha | +5.5% |
| 1973 | 0.6 LSU/ha | +3.4% |
| 1974 | 0.62 LSU/ha | +3.3% |
| 1975 | 0.6 LSU/ha | -3.2% |
| 1976 | 0.57 LSU/ha | -5.0% |
| 1977 | 0.55 LSU/ha | -3.5% |
| 1978 | 0.52 LSU/ha | -5.5% |
| 1979 | 0.5 LSU/ha | -3.8% |
| 1980 | 0.5 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 0.48 LSU/ha | -4.0% |
| 1982 | 0.49 LSU/ha | +2.1% |
| 1983 | 0.47 LSU/ha | -4.1% |
| 1984 | 0.48 LSU/ha | +2.1% |
| 1985 | 0.5 LSU/ha | +4.2% |
| 1986 | 0.52 LSU/ha | +4.0% |
| 1987 | 0.5 LSU/ha | -3.8% |
| 1988 | 0.51 LSU/ha | +2.0% |
| 1989 | 0.5 LSU/ha | -2.0% |
| 1990 | 0.52 LSU/ha | +4.0% |
| 1991 | 0.53 LSU/ha | +1.9% |
| 1992 | 0.54 LSU/ha | +1.9% |
| 1993 | 0.56 LSU/ha | +3.7% |
| 1994 | 0.6 LSU/ha | +7.1% |
| 1995 | 0.64 LSU/ha | +6.7% |
| 1996 | 0.63 LSU/ha | -1.6% |
| 1997 | 0.64 LSU/ha | +1.6% |
| 1998 | 0.63 LSU/ha | -1.6% |
| 1999 | 0.65 LSU/ha | +3.2% |
| 2000 | 0.66 LSU/ha | +1.5% |
| 2001 | 0.69 LSU/ha | +4.5% |
| 2002 | 0.72 LSU/ha | +4.3% |
| 2003 | 0.74 LSU/ha | +2.8% |
| 2004 | 0.73 LSU/ha | -1.4% |
| 2005 | 0.73 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 0.76 LSU/ha | +4.1% |
| 2007 | 0.76 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 0.77 LSU/ha | +1.3% |
| 2009 | 0.78 LSU/ha | +1.3% |
| 2010 | 0.78 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 0.79 LSU/ha | +1.3% |
| 2012 | 0.82 LSU/ha | +3.8% |
| 2013 | 0.83 LSU/ha | +1.2% |
| 2014 | 0.84 LSU/ha | +1.2% |
| 2015 | 0.84 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 0.86 LSU/ha | +2.4% |
| 2017 | 0.86 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 0.87 LSU/ha | +1.2% |
| 2019 | 0.88 LSU/ha | +1.1% |
| 2020 | 0.89 LSU/ha | +1.1% |
| 2021 | 0.9 LSU/ha | +1.1% |
| 2022 | 0.9 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 0.88 LSU/ha | -2.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.4911 LSU/ha | 0.44 LSU/ha | 0.59 LSU/ha | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.569 LSU/ha | 0.5 LSU/ha | 0.62 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.495 LSU/ha | 0.47 LSU/ha | 0.52 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.594 LSU/ha | 0.52 LSU/ha | 0.65 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.734 LSU/ha | 0.66 LSU/ha | 0.78 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.837 LSU/ha | 0.78 LSU/ha | 0.88 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.8925 LSU/ha | 0.88 LSU/ha | 0.9 LSU/ha | 4 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
- 12 Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 0.2 LSU/ha compare
- 12 Ethiopia 0.92 LSU/ha compare
- 12 Switzerland 0.92 LSU/ha compare
- 14 Costa Rica 0.91 LSU/ha compare
- 14 Micronesia 0.16 LSU/ha compare
- 15 Democratic People's Republic of Korea 0.14 LSU/ha compare
- 16 India 0.86 LSU/ha compare
- 16 Melanesia 0.11 LSU/ha compare
- 17 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 0.08 LSU/ha compare
- 17 Norway 0.8 LSU/ha compare
- 17 Puerto Rico 0.8 LSU/ha compare
- 18 Cabo Verde 0.19 LSU/ha compare
- 18 Syrian Arab Republic 0.04 LSU/ha compare
More environment data for New Zealand
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -0.2131 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 1.69 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.379 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.23 °C (2025)
- Roundwood, non-coniferous — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Wood fuel — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Wood fuel, non-coniferous — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Industrial roundwood — Production, annual growth rate 0.2831 % change on previous year (2024)
- Industrial roundwood — Import quantity, per unit of GDP 0 m3 per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cattle and buffaloes — livestock units per agricultural land area in New Zealand?
- Cattle and buffaloes — livestock units per agricultural land area in New Zealand was 0.88 LSU/ha in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest cattle and buffaloes — livestock units per agricultural land area recorded in New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 0.9 LSU/ha in 2021.
- What is the lowest cattle and buffaloes — livestock units per agricultural land area recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.44 LSU/ha in 1961.
- How does New Zealand rank for cattle and buffaloes — livestock units per agricultural land area?
- New Zealand ranks 15th out of 190 countries with data for 2023.
- Is cattle and buffaloes — livestock units per agricultural land area rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this New Zealand data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Cattle and Buffaloes — Livestock units per agricultural land area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 63 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
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.