Cattle — Livestock units per agricultural land area in Western Europe
Western Europe: Cattle — Livestock units per agricultural land area was 0.64 LSU/ha in 2023. ▼ Falling
Cattle — Livestock units per agricultural land area in Western Europe, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in LSU/ha.
Analysis
Western Europe recorded 0.64 LSU/ha for cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 63 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.5% on the previous year and down 9.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area in Western Europe peaked at 0.91 LSU/ha in 1984 and was at its lowest, 0.64 LSU/ha, in 2023.
Western Europe ranks 1st of 31 groups on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Cattle — Livestock units per agricultural land area in Western Europe, year by year
| Year | LSU/ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 0.68 LSU/ha | — |
| 1962 | 0.7 LSU/ha | +2.9% |
| 1963 | 0.7 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 0.69 LSU/ha | -1.4% |
| 1965 | 0.7 LSU/ha | +1.4% |
| 1966 | 0.72 LSU/ha | +2.9% |
| 1967 | 0.74 LSU/ha | +2.8% |
| 1968 | 0.76 LSU/ha | +2.7% |
| 1969 | 0.76 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 0.77 LSU/ha | +1.3% |
| 1971 | 0.77 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 0.77 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 0.8 LSU/ha | +3.9% |
| 1974 | 0.84 LSU/ha | +5.0% |
| 1975 | 0.85 LSU/ha | +1.2% |
| 1976 | 0.85 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 0.85 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 0.86 LSU/ha | +1.2% |
| 1979 | 0.87 LSU/ha | +1.2% |
| 1980 | 0.88 LSU/ha | +1.1% |
| 1981 | 0.88 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 0.88 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 0.89 LSU/ha | +1.1% |
| 1984 | 0.91 LSU/ha | +2.2% |
| 1985 | 0.9 LSU/ha | -1.1% |
| 1986 | 0.9 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 0.87 LSU/ha | -3.3% |
| 1988 | 0.85 LSU/ha | -2.3% |
| 1989 | 0.85 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 0.86 LSU/ha | +1.2% |
| 1991 | 0.86 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 0.82 LSU/ha | -4.7% |
| 1993 | 0.79 LSU/ha | -3.7% |
| 1994 | 0.78 LSU/ha | -1.3% |
| 1995 | 0.79 LSU/ha | +1.3% |
| 1996 | 0.79 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 0.77 LSU/ha | -2.5% |
| 1998 | 0.76 LSU/ha | -1.3% |
| 1999 | 0.76 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 0.77 LSU/ha | +1.3% |
| 2001 | 0.77 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 0.75 LSU/ha | -2.6% |
| 2003 | 0.72 LSU/ha | -4.0% |
| 2004 | 0.71 LSU/ha | -1.4% |
| 2005 | 0.71 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 0.71 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 0.71 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 0.72 LSU/ha | +1.4% |
| 2009 | 0.72 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 0.72 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 0.71 LSU/ha | -1.4% |
| 2012 | 0.7 LSU/ha | -1.4% |
| 2013 | 0.71 LSU/ha | +1.4% |
| 2014 | 0.72 LSU/ha | +1.4% |
| 2015 | 0.72 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 0.72 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 0.7 LSU/ha | -2.8% |
| 2018 | 0.69 LSU/ha | -1.4% |
| 2019 | 0.68 LSU/ha | -1.4% |
| 2020 | 0.66 LSU/ha | -2.9% |
| 2021 | 0.65 LSU/ha | -1.5% |
| 2022 | 0.65 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 0.64 LSU/ha | -1.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.7167 LSU/ha | 0.68 LSU/ha | 0.76 LSU/ha | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.823 LSU/ha | 0.77 LSU/ha | 0.87 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.881 LSU/ha | 0.85 LSU/ha | 0.91 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.798 LSU/ha | 0.76 LSU/ha | 0.86 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.729 LSU/ha | 0.71 LSU/ha | 0.77 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.707 LSU/ha | 0.68 LSU/ha | 0.72 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.65 LSU/ha | 0.64 LSU/ha | 0.66 LSU/ha | 4 |
Countries ranked near Western Europe
- 1 Belgium-Luxembourg 2.01 LSU/ha compare
- 2 Netherlands (Kingdom of the) 1.87 LSU/ha compare
- 3 Republic of Korea 1.67 LSU/ha compare
- 4 Belgium 1.49 LSU/ha compare
More environment data for Western Europe
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -3.94 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -3.1 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.485 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 2.23 °C (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Total fibre furnish — Production, annual growth rate -4.18 % change on previous year (2024)
- Graphic papers — Import value, annual growth rate -2.77 % change on previous year (2024)
- Printing and writing papers — Import value, annual growth rate -2.02 % change on previous year (2024)
- Printing and writing papers — Import quantity, annual growth rate 2.99 % change on previous year (2024)
- Newsprint — Import value, annual growth rate -8.97 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area in Western Europe?
- Cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area in Western Europe was 0.64 LSU/ha in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area recorded in Western Europe?
- The highest recorded value was 0.91 LSU/ha in 1984.
- What is the lowest cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area recorded in Western Europe?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.64 LSU/ha in 2023.
- How does Western Europe rank for cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area?
- Western Europe ranks 1st out of 31 groups with data for 2023.
- Is cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area rising or falling in Western Europe?
- Over the last ten years it is down 9.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Western Europe data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Cattle — 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.