Sheep and Goats — Livestock units per agricultural land area in New Zealand
New Zealand: Sheep and Goats — Livestock units per agricultural land area was 0.25 LSU/ha in 2023. ▼ Falling
Sheep and Goats — Livestock units per agricultural land area in New Zealand, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in LSU/ha.
Analysis
New Zealand recorded 0.25 LSU/ha for sheep and goats — livestock units per agricultural land area in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 63 years on record.
That represents a change of down 3.8% on the previous year and down 10.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, sheep and goats — livestock units per agricultural land area in New Zealand peaked at 0.48 LSU/ha in 1982 and was at its lowest, 0.25 LSU/ha, in 2021.
New Zealand ranks 16th of 187 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Sheep and Goats — Livestock units per agricultural land area in New Zealand, year by year
| Year | LSU/ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 0.37 LSU/ha | — |
| 1962 | 0.37 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 0.38 LSU/ha | +2.7% |
| 1964 | 0.39 LSU/ha | +2.6% |
| 1965 | 0.41 LSU/ha | +5.1% |
| 1966 | 0.43 LSU/ha | +4.9% |
| 1967 | 0.45 LSU/ha | +4.7% |
| 1968 | 0.46 LSU/ha | +2.2% |
| 1969 | 0.46 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 0.46 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1971 | 0.45 LSU/ha | -2.2% |
| 1972 | 0.45 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 0.42 LSU/ha | -6.7% |
| 1974 | 0.42 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 0.4 LSU/ha | -4.8% |
| 1976 | 0.39 LSU/ha | -2.5% |
| 1977 | 0.41 LSU/ha | +5.1% |
| 1978 | 0.43 LSU/ha | +4.9% |
| 1979 | 0.44 LSU/ha | +2.3% |
| 1980 | 0.47 LSU/ha | +6.8% |
| 1981 | 0.46 LSU/ha | -2.1% |
| 1982 | 0.48 LSU/ha | +4.3% |
| 1983 | 0.48 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 0.48 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 0.47 LSU/ha | -2.1% |
| 1986 | 0.47 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 0.46 LSU/ha | -2.1% |
| 1988 | 0.46 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 0.44 LSU/ha | -4.3% |
| 1990 | 0.42 LSU/ha | -4.5% |
| 1991 | 0.41 LSU/ha | -2.4% |
| 1992 | 0.39 LSU/ha | -4.9% |
| 1993 | 0.38 LSU/ha | -2.6% |
| 1994 | 0.37 LSU/ha | -2.6% |
| 1995 | 0.37 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 0.37 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 0.36 LSU/ha | -2.7% |
| 1998 | 0.35 LSU/ha | -2.8% |
| 1999 | 0.37 LSU/ha | +5.7% |
| 2000 | 0.34 LSU/ha | -8.1% |
| 2001 | 0.33 LSU/ha | -2.9% |
| 2002 | 0.33 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 0.34 LSU/ha | +3.0% |
| 2004 | 0.33 LSU/ha | -2.9% |
| 2005 | 0.34 LSU/ha | +3.0% |
| 2006 | 0.35 LSU/ha | +2.9% |
| 2007 | 0.34 LSU/ha | -2.9% |
| 2008 | 0.3 LSU/ha | -11.8% |
| 2009 | 0.28 LSU/ha | -6.7% |
| 2010 | 0.29 LSU/ha | +3.6% |
| 2011 | 0.27 LSU/ha | -6.9% |
| 2012 | 0.28 LSU/ha | +3.7% |
| 2013 | 0.28 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 0.27 LSU/ha | -3.6% |
| 2015 | 0.27 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 0.26 LSU/ha | -3.7% |
| 2017 | 0.26 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 0.26 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 0.26 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 0.26 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 0.25 LSU/ha | -3.8% |
| 2022 | 0.26 LSU/ha | +4.0% |
| 2023 | 0.25 LSU/ha | -3.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.4133 LSU/ha | 0.37 LSU/ha | 0.46 LSU/ha | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.427 LSU/ha | 0.39 LSU/ha | 0.46 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.467 LSU/ha | 0.44 LSU/ha | 0.48 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.379 LSU/ha | 0.35 LSU/ha | 0.42 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.328 LSU/ha | 0.28 LSU/ha | 0.35 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.27 LSU/ha | 0.26 LSU/ha | 0.29 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.255 LSU/ha | 0.25 LSU/ha | 0.26 LSU/ha | 4 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
- 14 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 0.27 LSU/ha compare
- 15 Palestine, State of 0.26 LSU/ha compare
- 16 Malta 0.25 LSU/ha compare
- 16 Republic of Moldova 0.02 LSU/ha compare
- 16 Melanesia 0.02 LSU/ha compare
- 18 Democratic Republic of the Congo 0.01 LSU/ha compare
- 18 Ethiopia 0.24 LSU/ha compare
- 18 Saint Lucia 0.24 LSU/ha compare
- 18 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 0.01 LSU/ha compare
- 18 Micronesia 0.01 LSU/ha compare
More environment data for New Zealand
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -0.2131 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 1.69 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.379 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.23 °C (2025)
- Roundwood, non-coniferous — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Wood fuel — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Wood fuel, non-coniferous — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Industrial roundwood — Production, annual growth rate 0.2831 % change on previous year (2024)
- Industrial roundwood — Import quantity, per unit of GDP 0 m3 per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is sheep and goats — livestock units per agricultural land area in New Zealand?
- Sheep and goats — livestock units per agricultural land area in New Zealand was 0.25 LSU/ha in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest sheep and goats — livestock units per agricultural land area recorded in New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 0.48 LSU/ha in 1982.
- What is the lowest sheep and goats — livestock units per agricultural land area recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.25 LSU/ha in 2021.
- How does New Zealand rank for sheep and goats — livestock units per agricultural land area?
- New Zealand ranks 16th out of 187 countries with data for 2023.
- Is sheep and goats — livestock units per agricultural land area rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is down 10.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this New Zealand data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Sheep and Goats — 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.