Cattle — Stocks in Africa

Africa: Cattle — Stocks was 199.36 million LSU in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
199.36 million LSU
Change on year
up 2.6%
Rank
6th
of 31 groups
All-time high
199.36 million LSU
in 2023
All-time low
67.40 million LSU
in 1961
Years of data
63
1961–2023

Cattle — Stocks in Africa, 1961–2023

50.0M100.0M150.0M200.0M196119922023

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

Analysis

Africa recorded 199.36 million LSU for cattle — stocks in 2023. That is the highest value across all 63 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.6% on the previous year and up 20.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, cattle — stocks in Africa peaked at 199.36 million LSU in 2023 and was at its lowest, 67.40 million LSU, in 1961.

Africa ranks 6th of 31 groups on this measure, in the top quarter.

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

Cattle — Stocks in Africa, year by year

Annual values for Cattle — Stocks in Africa, 1961 to 2023.
Year LSU Change
1961 67.40 million LSU —
1962 68.34 million LSU +1.4%
1963 69.34 million LSU +1.5%
1964 71.25 million LSU +2.8%
1965 73.24 million LSU +2.8%
1966 73.31 million LSU +0.1%
1967 75.50 million LSU +3.0%
1968 77.41 million LSU +2.5%
1969 79.07 million LSU +2.1%
1970 80.66 million LSU +2.0%
1971 81.79 million LSU +1.4%
1972 82.31 million LSU +0.6%
1973 82.99 million LSU +0.8%
1974 83.48 million LSU +0.6%
1975 84.92 million LSU +1.7%
1976 85.67 million LSU +0.9%
1977 87.35 million LSU +2.0%
1978 89.85 million LSU +2.9%
1979 92.53 million LSU +3.0%
1980 92.92 million LSU +0.4%
1981 93.76 million LSU +0.9%
1982 95.66 million LSU +2.0%
1983 96.61 million LSU +1.0%
1984 94.77 million LSU -1.9%
1985 95.48 million LSU +0.8%
1986 96.86 million LSU +1.4%
1987 96.12 million LSU -0.8%
1988 97.91 million LSU +1.9%
1989 100.78 million LSU +2.9%
1990 103.09 million LSU +2.3%
1991 103.51 million LSU +0.4%
1992 106.50 million LSU +2.9%
1993 103.85 million LSU -2.5%
1994 104.25 million LSU +0.4%
1995 106.96 million LSU +2.6%
1996 108.82 million LSU +1.7%
1997 112.22 million LSU +3.1%
1998 115.83 million LSU +3.2%
1999 120.68 million LSU +4.2%
2000 120.58 million LSU -0.1%
2001 122.61 million LSU +1.7%
2002 125.61 million LSU +2.5%
2003 128.34 million LSU +2.2%
2004 129.70 million LSU +1.1%
2005 134.13 million LSU +3.4%
2006 136.82 million LSU +2.0%
2007 143.35 million LSU +4.8%
2008 147.78 million LSU +3.1%
2009 150.33 million LSU +1.7%
2010 153.92 million LSU +2.4%
2011 157.24 million LSU +2.2%
2012 162.75 million LSU +3.5%
2013 165.54 million LSU +1.7%
2014 169.02 million LSU +2.1%
2015 172.78 million LSU +2.2%
2016 176.74 million LSU +2.3%
2017 177.17 million LSU +0.2%
2018 181.44 million LSU +2.4%
2019 185.66 million LSU +2.3%
2020 191.94 million LSU +3.4%
2021 191.19 million LSU -0.4%
2022 194.29 million LSU +1.6%
2023 199.36 million LSU +2.6%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 72.76 million LSU 67.40 million LSU 79.07 million LSU 9
1970s 85.15 million LSU 80.66 million LSU 92.53 million LSU 10
1980s 96.09 million LSU 92.92 million LSU 100.78 million LSU 10
1990s 108.57 million LSU 103.09 million LSU 120.68 million LSU 10
2000s 133.93 million LSU 120.58 million LSU 150.33 million LSU 10
2010s 170.23 million LSU 153.92 million LSU 185.66 million LSU 10
2020s 194.19 million LSU 191.19 million LSU 199.36 million LSU 4

Countries ranked near Africa

  1. 3 India 97.24 million LSU compare
  2. 4 United Republic of Tanzania 18.96 million LSU compare
  3. 4 USSR 69.39 million LSU compare
  4. 5 China 47.92 million LSU compare
  5. 5 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 11.57 million LSU compare
  6. 6 China, mainland 47.81 million LSU compare
  7. 6 Türkiye 11.49 million LSU compare
  8. 7 Argentina 37.97 million LSU compare
  9. 7 Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 7.77 million LSU compare
  10. 8 Australia and New Zealand 35.48 million LSU compare
  11. 9 Ethiopia 35.45 million LSU compare
  12. 9 Viet Nam 4.12 million LSU compare

See the full ranking of 241 places →

More environment data for Africa

All data for Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is cattle — stocks in Africa?
Cattle — stocks in Africa was 199.36 million LSU in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest cattle — stocks recorded in Africa?
The highest recorded value was 199.36 million LSU in 2023.
What is the lowest cattle — stocks recorded in Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 67.40 million LSU in 1961.
How does Africa rank for cattle — stocks?
Africa ranks 6th out of 31 groups with data for 2023.
Is cattle — stocks rising or falling in Africa?
Over the last ten years it is up 20.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Africa data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Cattle — Stocks. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Cattle — Stocks in Africa. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 27 September 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/cattle-stocks/africa/

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About this data

Indicator
Cattle — Stocks
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.