Cattle and Buffaloes — Stocks in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Cattle and Buffaloes — Stocks was 724,690 LSU in 2023. ▼ Falling
Cattle and Buffaloes — Stocks in Sri Lanka, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in LSU.
Analysis
The most recent figure for cattle and buffaloes — stocks in Sri Lanka is 724,690 LSU, measured in 2023.
That represents a change of down 0.2% on the previous year and down 6.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cattle and buffaloes — stocks in Sri Lanka peaked at 1.48 million LSU in 1965 and was at its lowest, 605,950 LSU, in 2016.
That places Sri Lanka 103rd out of 190 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Cattle and Buffaloes — Stocks in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | LSU | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 1.14 million LSU | — |
| 1962 | 1.08 million LSU | -5.5% |
| 1963 | 1.22 million LSU | +12.8% |
| 1964 | 1.43 million LSU | +16.9% |
| 1965 | 1.48 million LSU | +3.6% |
| 1966 | 1.29 million LSU | -12.7% |
| 1967 | 1.21 million LSU | -6.0% |
| 1968 | 1.22 million LSU | +0.8% |
| 1969 | 1.17 million LSU | -3.8% |
| 1970 | 1.16 million LSU | -0.9% |
| 1971 | 1.18 million LSU | +1.1% |
| 1972 | 1.18 million LSU | +0.4% |
| 1973 | 1.19 million LSU | +0.8% |
| 1974 | 1.23 million LSU | +2.9% |
| 1975 | 1.26 million LSU | +3.1% |
| 1976 | 1.30 million LSU | +2.7% |
| 1977 | 1.24 million LSU | -4.2% |
| 1978 | 1.18 million LSU | -5.3% |
| 1979 | 1.23 million LSU | +4.7% |
| 1980 | 1.24 million LSU | +0.9% |
| 1981 | 1.31 million LSU | +5.3% |
| 1982 | 1.29 million LSU | -1.6% |
| 1983 | 1.30 million LSU | +1.2% |
| 1984 | 1.34 million LSU | +3.0% |
| 1985 | 1.37 million LSU | +2.2% |
| 1986 | 1.37 million LSU | -0.1% |
| 1987 | 1.41 million LSU | +2.5% |
| 1988 | 1.38 million LSU | -2.3% |
| 1989 | 1.39 million LSU | +1.3% |
| 1990 | 1.37 million LSU | -2.0% |
| 1991 | 1.15 million LSU | -15.7% |
| 1992 | 1.23 million LSU | +7.0% |
| 1993 | 1.25 million LSU | +1.4% |
| 1994 | 1.25 million LSU | -0.2% |
| 1995 | 1.23 million LSU | -1.0% |
| 1996 | 1.20 million LSU | -2.6% |
| 1997 | 1.15 million LSU | -4.1% |
| 1998 | 747,400 LSU | -35.2% |
| 1999 | 755,500 LSU | +1.1% |
| 2000 | 726,050 LSU | -3.9% |
| 2001 | 721,750 LSU | -0.6% |
| 2002 | 697,518 LSU | -3.4% |
| 2003 | 709,590 LSU | +1.7% |
| 2004 | 731,200 LSU | +3.0% |
| 2005 | 746,385 LSU | +2.1% |
| 2006 | 749,395 LSU | +0.4% |
| 2007 | 762,400 LSU | +1.7% |
| 2008 | 757,070 LSU | -0.7% |
| 2009 | 754,325 LSU | -0.4% |
| 2010 | 796,160 LSU | +5.5% |
| 2011 | 798,485 LSU | +0.3% |
| 2012 | 825,085 LSU | +3.3% |
| 2013 | 774,900 LSU | -6.1% |
| 2014 | 712,735 LSU | -8.0% |
| 2015 | 705,595 LSU | -1.0% |
| 2016 | 605,950 LSU | -14.1% |
| 2017 | 642,215 LSU | +6.0% |
| 2018 | 709,765 LSU | +10.5% |
| 2019 | 692,220 LSU | -2.5% |
| 2020 | 713,285 LSU | +3.0% |
| 2021 | 732,145 LSU | +2.6% |
| 2022 | 726,250 LSU | -0.8% |
| 2023 | 724,690 LSU | -0.2% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 724,690 LSU is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 525,981 LSU, 1.4× the median. (49 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 724,690 LSU is below the median for South Asia, which is 3.92 million LSU, 19% of the median. (5 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Cattle and Buffaloes — Stocks in Sri Lanka changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | -35.2% | 1.15 million LSU | 747,400 LSU |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.25 million LSU | 1.08 million LSU | 1.48 million LSU | 9 |
| 1970s | 1.22 million LSU | 1.16 million LSU | 1.30 million LSU | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.34 million LSU | 1.24 million LSU | 1.41 million LSU | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.13 million LSU | 747,400 LSU | 1.37 million LSU | 10 |
| 2000s | 735,568 LSU | 697,518 LSU | 762,400 LSU | 10 |
| 2010s | 726,311 LSU | 605,950 LSU | 825,085 LSU | 10 |
| 2020s | 724,092 LSU | 713,285 LSU | 732,145 LSU | 4 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More environment data for Sri Lanka
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 5.24 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 5.49 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.207 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 0.849 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 5.63 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate 1.22 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cattle and buffaloes — stocks in Sri Lanka?
- Cattle and buffaloes — stocks in Sri Lanka was 724,690 LSU in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest cattle and buffaloes — stocks recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 1.48 million LSU in 1965.
- What is the lowest cattle and buffaloes — stocks recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 605,950 LSU in 2016.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for cattle and buffaloes — stocks?
- Sri Lanka ranks 103rd out of 190 countries with data for 2023.
- Is cattle and buffaloes — stocks rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is down 6.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sri Lanka data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Cattle and Buffaloes — Stocks. 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.