Sheep and Goats — Stocks in New Zealand
New Zealand: Sheep and Goats — Stocks was 2.44 million LSU in 2023. ▼ Falling
Sheep and Goats — Stocks in New Zealand, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in LSU.
Analysis
In 2023, sheep and goats — stocks in New Zealand stood at 2.44 million LSU. That is the lowest value across all 63 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 3.2% on the previous year and down 20.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, sheep and goats — stocks in New Zealand peaked at 7.04 million LSU in 1983 and was at its lowest, 2.44 million LSU, in 2023.
That places New Zealand 28th out of 187 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Sheep and Goats — Stocks in New Zealand, year by year
| Year | LSU | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 4.85 million LSU | — |
| 1962 | 4.90 million LSU | +1.1% |
| 1963 | 5.02 million LSU | +2.5% |
| 1964 | 5.13 million LSU | +2.2% |
| 1965 | 5.38 million LSU | +4.8% |
| 1966 | 5.74 million LSU | +6.7% |
| 1967 | 6.01 million LSU | +4.7% |
| 1968 | 6.05 million LSU | +0.7% |
| 1969 | 6.00 million LSU | -0.9% |
| 1970 | 6.03 million LSU | +0.6% |
| 1971 | 5.90 million LSU | -2.3% |
| 1972 | 6.09 million LSU | +3.4% |
| 1973 | 5.68 million LSU | -6.8% |
| 1974 | 5.59 million LSU | -1.5% |
| 1975 | 5.54 million LSU | -1.0% |
| 1976 | 5.65 million LSU | +2.0% |
| 1977 | 5.91 million LSU | +4.7% |
| 1978 | 6.22 million LSU | +5.2% |
| 1979 | 6.36 million LSU | +2.2% |
| 1980 | 6.88 million LSU | +8.3% |
| 1981 | 7.00 million LSU | +1.6% |
| 1982 | 7.04 million LSU | +0.6% |
| 1983 | 7.04 million LSU | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 7.00 million LSU | -0.6% |
| 1985 | 6.83 million LSU | -2.4% |
| 1986 | 6.82 million LSU | -0.1% |
| 1987 | 6.53 million LSU | -4.2% |
| 1988 | 6.59 million LSU | +0.9% |
| 1989 | 6.18 million LSU | -6.2% |
| 1990 | 5.89 million LSU | -4.7% |
| 1991 | 5.60 million LSU | -5.0% |
| 1992 | 5.31 million LSU | -5.1% |
| 1993 | 5.07 million LSU | -4.6% |
| 1994 | 4.98 million LSU | -1.8% |
| 1995 | 4.91 million LSU | -1.4% |
| 1996 | 4.76 million LSU | -3.0% |
| 1997 | 4.63 million LSU | -2.8% |
| 1998 | 4.46 million LSU | -3.6% |
| 1999 | 4.59 million LSU | +2.8% |
| 2000 | 4.24 million LSU | -7.5% |
| 2001 | 4.02 million LSU | -5.3% |
| 2002 | 3.97 million LSU | -1.1% |
| 2003 | 3.97 million LSU | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 3.94 million LSU | -0.8% |
| 2005 | 4.00 million LSU | +1.6% |
| 2006 | 4.02 million LSU | +0.5% |
| 2007 | 3.86 million LSU | -4.1% |
| 2008 | 3.42 million LSU | -11.4% |
| 2009 | 3.25 million LSU | -5.0% |
| 2010 | 3.27 million LSU | +0.6% |
| 2011 | 3.12 million LSU | -4.4% |
| 2012 | 3.14 million LSU | +0.4% |
| 2013 | 3.09 million LSU | -1.6% |
| 2014 | 2.99 million LSU | -3.1% |
| 2015 | 2.92 million LSU | -2.4% |
| 2016 | 2.77 million LSU | -5.1% |
| 2017 | 2.76 million LSU | -0.3% |
| 2018 | 2.74 million LSU | -0.9% |
| 2019 | 2.69 million LSU | -1.7% |
| 2020 | 2.61 million LSU | -2.9% |
| 2021 | 2.58 million LSU | -1.1% |
| 2022 | 2.52 million LSU | -2.4% |
| 2023 | 2.44 million LSU | -3.2% |
New Zealand compared with similar countries
- New Zealand's 2.44 million LSU is above the median for high income countries, which is 33,497 LSU, 72.9× the median. (56 countries reporting)
- New Zealand's 2.44 million LSU is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 39,675 LSU, 61.6× the median. (18 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 5.45 million LSU | 4.85 million LSU | 6.05 million LSU | 9 |
| 1970s | 5.90 million LSU | 5.54 million LSU | 6.36 million LSU | 10 |
| 1980s | 6.79 million LSU | 6.18 million LSU | 7.04 million LSU | 10 |
| 1990s | 5.02 million LSU | 4.46 million LSU | 5.89 million LSU | 10 |
| 2000s | 3.87 million LSU | 3.25 million LSU | 4.24 million LSU | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.95 million LSU | 2.69 million LSU | 3.27 million LSU | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.54 million LSU | 2.44 million LSU | 2.61 million LSU | 4 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
- 25 South Africa 2.66 million LSU compare
- 26 Morocco 2.63 million LSU compare
- 27 Saudi Arabia 2.53 million LSU compare
- 29 Côte d'Ivoire 660,189 LSU compare
- 29 Uzbekistan 2.41 million LSU compare
- 30 Uganda 2.25 million LSU compare
- 30 Caribbean 549,741 LSU compare
- 31 Burkina Faso 2.23 million LSU compare
- 31 Cabo Verde 16,258 LSU 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)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 0.1365 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual -0.474 % 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 -0.9337 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is sheep and goats — stocks in New Zealand?
- Sheep and goats — stocks in New Zealand was 2.44 million LSU in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest sheep and goats — stocks recorded in New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 7.04 million LSU in 1983.
- What is the lowest sheep and goats — stocks recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.44 million LSU in 2023.
- How does New Zealand rank for sheep and goats — stocks?
- New Zealand ranks 28th out of 187 countries with data for 2023.
- Is sheep and goats — stocks rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is down 20.9%. 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 — 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.