Sheep — Stocks in Australia
Australia: Sheep — Stocks was 7.21 million LSU in 2023. ▼ Falling
Sheep — Stocks in Australia, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in LSU.
Analysis
The most recent figure for sheep — stocks in Australia is 7.21 million LSU, measured in 2023.
The figure is up 2.7% on the previous year and down 4.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, sheep — stocks in Australia peaked at 18.01 million LSU in 1970 and was at its lowest, 6.35 million LSU, in 2020.
That places Australia 7th out of 180 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 — Stocks in Australia, year by year
| Year | LSU | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 15.27 million LSU | — |
| 1962 | 15.77 million LSU | +3.3% |
| 1963 | 15.86 million LSU | +0.6% |
| 1964 | 16.50 million LSU | +4.0% |
| 1965 | 17.06 million LSU | +3.4% |
| 1966 | 15.76 million LSU | -7.7% |
| 1967 | 16.42 million LSU | +4.2% |
| 1968 | 16.69 million LSU | +1.6% |
| 1969 | 17.46 million LSU | +4.6% |
| 1970 | 18.01 million LSU | +3.1% |
| 1971 | 17.78 million LSU | -1.3% |
| 1972 | 16.29 million LSU | -8.4% |
| 1973 | 14.00 million LSU | -14.0% |
| 1974 | 14.52 million LSU | +3.7% |
| 1975 | 15.17 million LSU | +4.5% |
| 1976 | 14.86 million LSU | -2.0% |
| 1977 | 13.54 million LSU | -8.9% |
| 1978 | 13.14 million LSU | -2.9% |
| 1979 | 13.42 million LSU | +2.1% |
| 1980 | 13.60 million LSU | +1.3% |
| 1981 | 13.44 million LSU | -1.2% |
| 1982 | 13.80 million LSU | +2.7% |
| 1983 | 13.32 million LSU | -3.4% |
| 1984 | 13.92 million LSU | +4.5% |
| 1985 | 14.97 million LSU | +7.5% |
| 1986 | 14.68 million LSU | -2.0% |
| 1987 | 14.92 million LSU | +1.6% |
| 1988 | 15.24 million LSU | +2.2% |
| 1989 | 16.16 million LSU | +6.0% |
| 1990 | 17.03 million LSU | +5.4% |
| 1991 | 16.32 million LSU | -4.1% |
| 1992 | 14.82 million LSU | -9.2% |
| 1993 | 13.81 million LSU | -6.8% |
| 1994 | 13.26 million LSU | -4.0% |
| 1995 | 12.09 million LSU | -8.8% |
| 1996 | 12.11 million LSU | +0.2% |
| 1997 | 12.02 million LSU | -0.7% |
| 1998 | 11.75 million LSU | -2.3% |
| 1999 | 11.55 million LSU | -1.7% |
| 2000 | 11.86 million LSU | +2.7% |
| 2001 | 11.09 million LSU | -6.5% |
| 2002 | 10.62 million LSU | -4.3% |
| 2003 | 9.93 million LSU | -6.5% |
| 2004 | 10.13 million LSU | +2.0% |
| 2005 | 10.11 million LSU | -0.2% |
| 2006 | 9.10 million LSU | -10.0% |
| 2007 | 8.57 million LSU | -5.8% |
| 2008 | 7.69 million LSU | -10.2% |
| 2009 | 7.27 million LSU | -5.5% |
| 2010 | 6.81 million LSU | -6.4% |
| 2011 | 7.31 million LSU | +7.4% |
| 2012 | 7.47 million LSU | +2.2% |
| 2013 | 7.55 million LSU | +1.1% |
| 2014 | 7.26 million LSU | -3.9% |
| 2015 | 7.09 million LSU | -2.3% |
| 2016 | 6.75 million LSU | -4.7% |
| 2017 | 7.21 million LSU | +6.8% |
| 2018 | 7.01 million LSU | -2.9% |
| 2019 | 6.58 million LSU | -6.2% |
| 2020 | 6.35 million LSU | -3.4% |
| 2021 | 6.80 million LSU | +7.1% |
| 2022 | 7.02 million LSU | +3.2% |
| 2023 | 7.21 million LSU | +2.7% |
Australia compared with similar countries
- Australia's 7.21 million LSU is above the median for high income countries, which is 34,340 LSU, 210.0× the median. (53 countries reporting)
- Australia's 7.21 million LSU is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 8,974 LSU, 803.5× the median. (14 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 16.31 million LSU | 15.27 million LSU | 17.46 million LSU | 9 |
| 1970s | 15.07 million LSU | 13.14 million LSU | 18.01 million LSU | 10 |
| 1980s | 14.41 million LSU | 13.32 million LSU | 16.16 million LSU | 10 |
| 1990s | 13.48 million LSU | 11.55 million LSU | 17.03 million LSU | 10 |
| 2000s | 9.64 million LSU | 7.27 million LSU | 11.86 million LSU | 10 |
| 2010s | 7.10 million LSU | 6.58 million LSU | 7.55 million LSU | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.85 million LSU | 6.35 million LSU | 7.21 million LSU | 4 |
Countries ranked near Australia
- 4 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 5.20 million LSU compare
- 4 USSR 13.29 million LSU compare
- 5 Türkiye 4.21 million LSU compare
- 5 Australia and New Zealand 9.65 million LSU compare
- 6 India 7.74 million LSU compare
- 6 Syrian Arab Republic 1.86 million LSU compare
- 7 United Republic of Tanzania 937,341 LSU compare
- 8 Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 747,613 LSU compare
- 8 Sudan (former) 5.26 million LSU compare
- 9 Nigeria 5.14 million LSU compare
- 10 Chad 4.87 million LSU compare
- 10 Democratic Republic of the Congo 91,896 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 — stocks in Australia?
- Sheep — stocks in Australia was 7.21 million LSU in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest sheep — stocks recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 18.01 million LSU in 1970.
- What is the lowest sheep — stocks recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.35 million LSU in 2020.
- How does Australia rank for sheep — stocks?
- Australia ranks 7th out of 180 countries with data for 2023.
- Is sheep — stocks rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.6%. 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 — 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.