Cattle — Share in total livestock in Australia and New Zealand

Australia and New Zealand: Cattle — Share in total livestock was 74.28 %LSU in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
74.28 %LSU
Change on year
up 3.8%
World rank
17th
of 190 countries
All-time high
74.28 %LSU
in 2023
All-time low
49.31 %LSU
in 1965
Years of data
63
1961–2023

Cattle — Share in total livestock in Australia and New Zealand, 1961–2023

020406080196119922023

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %LSU.

Analysis

Australia and New Zealand recorded 74.28 %LSU for cattle — share in total livestock in 2023. That is the highest value across all 63 years on record.

That represents a change of up 3.8% on the previous year and up 1.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, cattle — share in total livestock in Australia and New Zealand peaked at 74.28 %LSU in 2023 and was at its lowest, 49.31 %LSU, in 1965.

That places Australia and New Zealand 17th out of 190 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.

Cattle — Share in total livestock in Australia and New Zealand, year by year

Annual values for Cattle — Share in total livestock in Australia and New Zealand, 1961 to 2023.
Year %LSU Change
1961 50.04 %LSU
1962 50.28 %LSU +0.5%
1963 50.69 %LSU +0.8%
1964 50.35 %LSU -0.7%
1965 49.31 %LSU -2.1%
1966 49.88 %LSU +1.2%
1967 49.73 %LSU -0.3%
1968 50.7 %LSU +2.0%
1969 51.46 %LSU +1.5%
1970 52.24 %LSU +1.5%
1971 53.66 %LSU +2.7%
1972 57.34 %LSU +6.9%
1973 61.49 %LSU +7.2%
1974 62.47 %LSU +1.6%
1975 63.08 %LSU +1.0%
1976 63.49 %LSU +0.6%
1977 63.36 %LSU -0.2%
1978 61.95 %LSU -2.2%
1979 59.73 %LSU -3.6%
1980 58.27 %LSU -2.4%
1981 57.52 %LSU -1.3%
1982 56.58 %LSU -1.6%
1983 55.17 %LSU -2.5%
1984 54.42 %LSU -1.4%
1985 54.03 %LSU -0.7%
1986 55.13 %LSU +2.0%
1987 53.71 %LSU -2.6%
1988 53.11 %LSU -1.1%
1989 53.03 %LSU -0.2%
1990 53.1 %LSU +0.1%
1991 54.63 %LSU +2.9%
1992 56.61 %LSU +3.6%
1993 58.29 %LSU +3.0%
1994 60.64 %LSU +4.0%
1995 62.48 %LSU +3.0%
1996 62.81 %LSU +0.5%
1997 63.34 %LSU +0.8%
1998 63.64 %LSU +0.5%
1999 63.64 %LSU +0.0%
2000 64.44 %LSU +1.3%
2001 65.77 %LSU +2.1%
2002 66.6 %LSU +1.3%
2003 66.98 %LSU +0.6%
2004 67.17 %LSU +0.3%
2005 67.29 %LSU +0.2%
2006 68.74 %LSU +2.2%
2007 69.61 %LSU +1.3%
2008 71.39 %LSU +2.6%
2009 72.6 %LSU +1.7%
2010 72.8 %LSU +0.3%
2011 73.14 %LSU +0.5%
2012 72.79 %LSU -0.5%
2013 73.23 %LSU +0.6%
2014 73.75 %LSU +0.7%
2015 73.25 %LSU -0.7%
2016 72.71 %LSU -0.7%
2017 72.47 %LSU -0.3%
2018 72.81 %LSU +0.5%
2019 72.56 %LSU -0.3%
2020 72.53 %LSU -0.0%
2021 72.05 %LSU -0.7%
2022 71.58 %LSU -0.7%
2023 74.28 %LSU +3.8%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 50.27 %LSU 49.31 %LSU 51.46 %LSU 9
1970s 59.88 %LSU 52.24 %LSU 63.49 %LSU 10
1980s 55.1 %LSU 53.03 %LSU 58.27 %LSU 10
1990s 59.92 %LSU 53.1 %LSU 63.64 %LSU 10
2000s 68.06 %LSU 64.44 %LSU 72.6 %LSU 10
2010s 72.95 %LSU 72.47 %LSU 73.75 %LSU 10
2020s 72.61 %LSU 71.58 %LSU 74.28 %LSU 4

Countries ranked near Australia and New Zealand

  1. 14 Madagascar 75.59 %LSU compare
  2. 15 New Zealand 75.56 %LSU compare
  3. 16 Eswatini 74.4 %LSU compare
  4. 18 Australia 73.88 %LSU compare
  5. 19 Botswana 73.59 %LSU compare
  6. 20 Honduras 73.37 %LSU compare

See the full ranking of 241 places →

More environment data for Australia and New Zealand

All data for Australia and New Zealand →

Frequently asked questions

What is cattle — share in total livestock in Australia and New Zealand?
Cattle — share in total livestock in Australia and New Zealand was 74.28 %LSU in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest cattle — share in total livestock recorded in Australia and New Zealand?
The highest recorded value was 74.28 %LSU in 2023.
What is the lowest cattle — share in total livestock recorded in Australia and New Zealand?
The lowest recorded value was 49.31 %LSU in 1965.
How does Australia and New Zealand rank for cattle — share in total livestock?
Australia and New Zealand ranks 17th out of 190 countries with data for 2023.
Is cattle — share in total livestock rising or falling in Australia and New Zealand?
Over the last ten years it is up 1.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Australia and New Zealand data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Cattle — Share in total livestock. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Cattle — Share in total livestock in Australia and New Zealand. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 27 August 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/cattle-share-in-total-livestock/australia-and-new-zealand/

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About this data

Indicator
Cattle — Share in total livestock
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.