Cattle and Buffaloes — Stocks in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa: Cattle and Buffaloes — Stocks was 177.97 million LSU in 2023. ▲ Rising
Cattle and Buffaloes — Stocks in Sub-Saharan Africa, 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 Sub-Saharan Africa is 177.97 million LSU, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 63 years on record.
That represents a change of up 2.8% on the previous year and up 24.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cattle and buffaloes — stocks in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 177.97 million LSU in 2023 and was at its lowest, 59.93 million LSU, in 1961.
That places Sub-Saharan Africa 9th out of 31 groups with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.
Cattle and Buffaloes — Stocks in Sub-Saharan Africa, year by year
| Year | LSU | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 59.93 million LSU | — |
| 1962 | 61.06 million LSU | +1.9% |
| 1963 | 61.56 million LSU | +0.8% |
| 1964 | 62.75 million LSU | +1.9% |
| 1965 | 64.52 million LSU | +2.8% |
| 1966 | 63.89 million LSU | -1.0% |
| 1967 | 65.40 million LSU | +2.4% |
| 1968 | 66.48 million LSU | +1.7% |
| 1969 | 67.96 million LSU | +2.2% |
| 1970 | 69.32 million LSU | +2.0% |
| 1971 | 70.20 million LSU | +1.3% |
| 1972 | 70.68 million LSU | +0.7% |
| 1973 | 70.73 million LSU | +0.1% |
| 1974 | 71.16 million LSU | +0.6% |
| 1975 | 71.85 million LSU | +1.0% |
| 1976 | 72.56 million LSU | +1.0% |
| 1977 | 74.30 million LSU | +2.4% |
| 1978 | 76.38 million LSU | +2.8% |
| 1979 | 78.63 million LSU | +3.0% |
| 1980 | 78.56 million LSU | -0.1% |
| 1981 | 78.99 million LSU | +0.5% |
| 1982 | 80.73 million LSU | +2.2% |
| 1983 | 81.72 million LSU | +1.2% |
| 1984 | 79.83 million LSU | -2.3% |
| 1985 | 80.50 million LSU | +0.8% |
| 1986 | 82.22 million LSU | +2.1% |
| 1987 | 80.80 million LSU | -1.7% |
| 1988 | 82.23 million LSU | +1.8% |
| 1989 | 84.67 million LSU | +3.0% |
| 1990 | 86.81 million LSU | +2.5% |
| 1991 | 86.48 million LSU | -0.4% |
| 1992 | 87.82 million LSU | +1.5% |
| 1993 | 84.35 million LSU | -4.0% |
| 1994 | 84.75 million LSU | +0.5% |
| 1995 | 86.92 million LSU | +2.6% |
| 1996 | 87.57 million LSU | +0.7% |
| 1997 | 90.11 million LSU | +2.9% |
| 1998 | 92.96 million LSU | +3.2% |
| 1999 | 96.85 million LSU | +4.2% |
| 2000 | 95.94 million LSU | -0.9% |
| 2001 | 97.18 million LSU | +1.3% |
| 2002 | 100.12 million LSU | +3.0% |
| 2003 | 102.00 million LSU | +1.9% |
| 2004 | 103.16 million LSU | +1.1% |
| 2005 | 107.16 million LSU | +3.9% |
| 2006 | 109.42 million LSU | +2.1% |
| 2007 | 115.62 million LSU | +5.7% |
| 2008 | 119.81 million LSU | +3.6% |
| 2009 | 122.64 million LSU | +2.4% |
| 2010 | 125.88 million LSU | +2.6% |
| 2011 | 129.24 million LSU | +2.7% |
| 2012 | 140.36 million LSU | +8.6% |
| 2013 | 143.06 million LSU | +1.9% |
| 2014 | 146.28 million LSU | +2.2% |
| 2015 | 149.74 million LSU | +2.4% |
| 2016 | 153.55 million LSU | +2.5% |
| 2017 | 154.36 million LSU | +0.5% |
| 2018 | 158.51 million LSU | +2.7% |
| 2019 | 163.81 million LSU | +3.3% |
| 2020 | 170.12 million LSU | +3.9% |
| 2021 | 169.72 million LSU | -0.2% |
| 2022 | 173.13 million LSU | +2.0% |
| 2023 | 177.97 million LSU | +2.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 63.73 million LSU | 59.93 million LSU | 67.96 million LSU | 9 |
| 1970s | 72.58 million LSU | 69.32 million LSU | 78.63 million LSU | 10 |
| 1980s | 81.03 million LSU | 78.56 million LSU | 84.67 million LSU | 10 |
| 1990s | 88.46 million LSU | 84.35 million LSU | 96.85 million LSU | 10 |
| 2000s | 107.30 million LSU | 95.94 million LSU | 122.64 million LSU | 10 |
| 2010s | 146.48 million LSU | 125.88 million LSU | 163.81 million LSU | 10 |
| 2020s | 172.74 million LSU | 169.72 million LSU | 177.97 million LSU | 4 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa
- 6 USSR 69.63 million LSU compare
- 6 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 11.57 million LSU compare
- 7 Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 7.77 million LSU compare
- 7 Pakistan 50.21 million LSU compare
- 8 Argentina 37.97 million LSU compare
- 9 Viet Nam 5.61 million LSU compare
- 9 Australia and New Zealand 35.48 million LSU compare
- 10 Ethiopia 35.45 million LSU compare
- 10 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 3.95 million LSU compare
- 11 Australia 26.89 million LSU compare
- 11 Lao People's Democratic Republic 2.50 million LSU compare
- 12 Democratic Republic of the Congo 916,234 LSU compare
- 12 Mexico 25.63 million LSU compare
More environment data for Sub-Saharan Africa
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -7.11 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -6.36 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.223 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.21 °C (2025)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 305.43 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Aquaculture production 904,662 metric tons (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 2.29 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Transport (Energy) 2.96 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Permanent meadows and pastures — Area 704,021 1000 ha (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cattle and buffaloes — stocks in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Cattle and buffaloes — stocks in Sub-Saharan Africa was 177.97 million LSU in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest cattle and buffaloes — stocks recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 177.97 million LSU in 2023.
- What is the lowest cattle and buffaloes — stocks recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 59.93 million LSU in 1961.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for cattle and buffaloes — stocks?
- Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 9th out of 31 groups with data for 2023.
- Is cattle and buffaloes — stocks rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 24.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa 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.