Cattle — Share in total livestock in South America

South America: Cattle — Share in total livestock was 80.44 %LSU in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
80.44 %LSU
Change on year
up 0.3%
Rank
2nd
of 43 regions
All-time high
82.3 %LSU
in 2004
All-time low
73.34 %LSU
in 1961
Years of data
63
1961–2023

Cattle — Share in total livestock in South America, 1961–2023

020406080196119922023

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

Analysis

In 2023, cattle — share in total livestock in South America stood at 80.44 %LSU.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.3% on the previous year and down 0.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, cattle — share in total livestock in South America peaked at 82.3 %LSU in 2004 and was at its lowest, 73.34 %LSU, in 1961.

That places South America 2nd out of 43 regions 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.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 74.44 %LSU 73.34 %LSU 75.64 %LSU 9
1970s 77.81 %LSU 75.81 %LSU 79.46 %LSU 10
1980s 79.52 %LSU 79.25 %LSU 79.76 %LSU 10
1990s 80.33 %LSU 79.76 %LSU 81 %LSU 10
2000s 81.42 %LSU 80.67 %LSU 82.3 %LSU 10
2010s 80.59 %LSU 80.2 %LSU 80.94 %LSU 10
2020s 80.2 %LSU 80.03 %LSU 80.44 %LSU 4

Countries ranked near South America

  1. 1 Paraguay 92.21 %LSU compare
  2. 2 Luxembourg 91.02 %LSU compare
  3. 3 Ireland 89 %LSU compare
  4. 4 Argentina 86.42 %LSU compare
  5. 5 Nicaragua 86.29 %LSU compare

See the full ranking of 241 places →

More environment data for South America

All data for South America →

Frequently asked questions

What is cattle — share in total livestock in South America?
Cattle — share in total livestock in South America was 80.44 %LSU in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest cattle — share in total livestock recorded in South America?
The highest recorded value was 82.3 %LSU in 2004.
What is the lowest cattle — share in total livestock recorded in South America?
The lowest recorded value was 73.34 %LSU in 1961.
How does South America rank for cattle — share in total livestock?
South America ranks 2nd out of 43 regions with data for 2023.
Is cattle — share in total livestock rising or falling in South America?
Over the last ten years it is down 0.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this South America 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 South America. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 17 August 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/cattle-share-in-total-livestock/south-america/

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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.