Sheep and Goats — Stocks in Australia
Australia: Sheep and Goats — Stocks was 7.62 million LSU in 2023. ▼ Falling
Sheep and Goats — Stocks in Australia, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in LSU.
Analysis
The most recent figure for sheep and goats — stocks in Australia is 7.62 million LSU, measured in 2023.
That represents a change of up 2.6% on the previous year and down 3.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, sheep and goats — stocks in Australia peaked at 18.01 million LSU in 1970 and was at its lowest, 6.75 million LSU, in 2020.
That places Australia 12th out of 187 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Sheep and Goats — Stocks in Australia, year by year
| Year | LSU | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 15.27 million LSU | — |
| 1962 | 15.78 million LSU | +3.3% |
| 1963 | 15.87 million LSU | +0.6% |
| 1964 | 16.50 million LSU | +4.0% |
| 1965 | 17.07 million LSU | +3.4% |
| 1966 | 15.76 million LSU | -7.7% |
| 1967 | 16.43 million LSU | +4.2% |
| 1968 | 16.70 million LSU | +1.6% |
| 1969 | 17.47 million LSU | +4.6% |
| 1970 | 18.01 million LSU | +3.1% |
| 1971 | 17.79 million LSU | -1.3% |
| 1972 | 16.30 million LSU | -8.4% |
| 1973 | 14.01 million LSU | -14.0% |
| 1974 | 14.52 million LSU | +3.7% |
| 1975 | 15.17 million LSU | +4.5% |
| 1976 | 14.87 million LSU | -2.0% |
| 1977 | 13.54 million LSU | -8.9% |
| 1978 | 13.15 million LSU | -2.9% |
| 1979 | 13.43 million LSU | +2.1% |
| 1980 | 13.61 million LSU | +1.3% |
| 1981 | 13.45 million LSU | -1.2% |
| 1982 | 13.81 million LSU | +2.7% |
| 1983 | 13.34 million LSU | -3.4% |
| 1984 | 13.93 million LSU | +4.4% |
| 1985 | 14.98 million LSU | +7.6% |
| 1986 | 14.77 million LSU | -1.5% |
| 1987 | 15.01 million LSU | +1.6% |
| 1988 | 15.38 million LSU | +2.5% |
| 1989 | 16.29 million LSU | +5.9% |
| 1990 | 17.19 million LSU | +5.5% |
| 1991 | 16.50 million LSU | -4.0% |
| 1992 | 15.04 million LSU | -8.9% |
| 1993 | 14.00 million LSU | -6.9% |
| 1994 | 13.45 million LSU | -4.0% |
| 1995 | 12.25 million LSU | -8.9% |
| 1996 | 12.29 million LSU | +0.3% |
| 1997 | 12.21 million LSU | -0.7% |
| 1998 | 11.92 million LSU | -2.3% |
| 1999 | 11.70 million LSU | -1.8% |
| 2000 | 12.05 million LSU | +2.9% |
| 2001 | 11.30 million LSU | -6.2% |
| 2002 | 10.89 million LSU | -3.6% |
| 2003 | 10.18 million LSU | -6.6% |
| 2004 | 10.41 million LSU | +2.3% |
| 2005 | 10.45 million LSU | +0.4% |
| 2006 | 9.43 million LSU | -9.8% |
| 2007 | 8.82 million LSU | -6.5% |
| 2008 | 7.96 million LSU | -9.7% |
| 2009 | 7.61 million LSU | -4.4% |
| 2010 | 7.16 million LSU | -6.0% |
| 2011 | 7.66 million LSU | +7.0% |
| 2012 | 7.83 million LSU | +2.2% |
| 2013 | 7.91 million LSU | +1.1% |
| 2014 | 7.62 million LSU | -3.7% |
| 2015 | 7.45 million LSU | -2.2% |
| 2016 | 7.12 million LSU | -4.5% |
| 2017 | 7.57 million LSU | +6.4% |
| 2018 | 7.38 million LSU | -2.5% |
| 2019 | 6.97 million LSU | -5.6% |
| 2020 | 6.75 million LSU | -3.1% |
| 2021 | 7.20 million LSU | +6.7% |
| 2022 | 7.43 million LSU | +3.1% |
| 2023 | 7.62 million LSU | +2.6% |
Australia compared with similar countries
- Australia's 7.62 million LSU is above the median for high income countries, which is 33,497 LSU, 227.5× the median. (56 countries reporting)
- Australia's 7.62 million LSU is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 39,675 LSU, 192.1× the median. (18 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 16.31 million LSU | 15.27 million LSU | 17.47 million LSU | 9 |
| 1970s | 15.08 million LSU | 13.15 million LSU | 18.01 million LSU | 10 |
| 1980s | 14.46 million LSU | 13.34 million LSU | 16.29 million LSU | 10 |
| 1990s | 13.66 million LSU | 11.70 million LSU | 17.19 million LSU | 10 |
| 2000s | 9.91 million LSU | 7.61 million LSU | 12.05 million LSU | 10 |
| 2010s | 7.47 million LSU | 6.97 million LSU | 7.91 million LSU | 10 |
| 2020s | 7.25 million LSU | 6.75 million LSU | 7.62 million LSU | 4 |
Countries ranked near Australia
- 9 Chad 9.80 million LSU compare
- 10 Democratic Republic of the Congo 505,908 LSU compare
- 10 Ethiopia 9.35 million LSU compare
- 11 Democratic People's Republic of Korea 407,732 LSU compare
- 11 Sudan (former) 8.33 million LSU compare
- 12 Viet Nam 308,833 LSU compare
- 13 Sudan 7.14 million LSU compare
- 13 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 181,628 LSU compare
- 14 Kenya 5.82 million LSU compare
- 14 Lao People's Democratic Republic 78,696 LSU compare
- 15 Mali 5.55 million LSU compare
- 15 Republic of Moldova 54,993 LSU compare
More environment data for Australia
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -4.75 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -5.98 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.345 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.4 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate -1.03 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 0.6708 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate 0.0861 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is sheep and goats — stocks in Australia?
- Sheep and goats — stocks in Australia was 7.62 million LSU in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest sheep and goats — stocks recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 18.01 million LSU in 1970.
- What is the lowest sheep and goats — stocks recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.75 million LSU in 2020.
- How does Australia rank for sheep and goats — stocks?
- Australia ranks 12th out of 187 countries with data for 2023.
- Is sheep and goats — stocks rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Sheep and Goats — Stocks. 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.