Sheep — Stocks in Europe
Europe: Sheep — Stocks was 11.73 million LSU in 2023. ▼ Falling
Sheep — Stocks in Europe, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in LSU.
Analysis
Europe recorded 11.73 million LSU for sheep — stocks in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 63 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 2.3% on the previous year and down 9.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, sheep — stocks in Europe peaked at 29.78 million LSU in 1989 and was at its lowest, 11.73 million LSU, in 2023.
Europe ranks 10th of 31 groups on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Sheep — Stocks in Europe, year by year
| Year | LSU | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 26.67 million LSU | — |
| 1962 | 27.18 million LSU | +1.9% |
| 1963 | 27.08 million LSU | -0.4% |
| 1964 | 26.47 million LSU | -2.2% |
| 1965 | 25.79 million LSU | -2.6% |
| 1966 | 26.20 million LSU | +1.6% |
| 1967 | 26.78 million LSU | +2.2% |
| 1968 | 26.98 million LSU | +0.7% |
| 1969 | 26.92 million LSU | -0.2% |
| 1970 | 25.60 million LSU | -4.9% |
| 1971 | 26.19 million LSU | +2.3% |
| 1972 | 26.36 million LSU | +0.6% |
| 1973 | 26.35 million LSU | -0.0% |
| 1974 | 26.71 million LSU | +1.4% |
| 1975 | 26.98 million LSU | +1.0% |
| 1976 | 26.59 million LSU | -1.4% |
| 1977 | 25.71 million LSU | -3.3% |
| 1978 | 26.15 million LSU | +1.7% |
| 1979 | 26.46 million LSU | +1.2% |
| 1980 | 26.68 million LSU | +0.8% |
| 1981 | 26.62 million LSU | -0.2% |
| 1982 | 27.27 million LSU | +2.4% |
| 1983 | 27.50 million LSU | +0.9% |
| 1984 | 27.98 million LSU | +1.7% |
| 1985 | 27.86 million LSU | -0.4% |
| 1986 | 28.79 million LSU | +3.3% |
| 1987 | 29.06 million LSU | +0.9% |
| 1988 | 29.61 million LSU | +1.9% |
| 1989 | 29.78 million LSU | +0.6% |
| 1990 | 29.52 million LSU | -0.8% |
| 1991 | 28.73 million LSU | -2.7% |
| 1992 | 21.26 million LSU | -26.0% |
| 1993 | 20.32 million LSU | -4.4% |
| 1994 | 19.11 million LSU | -5.9% |
| 1995 | 17.83 million LSU | -6.7% |
| 1996 | 16.55 million LSU | -7.1% |
| 1997 | 16.04 million LSU | -3.1% |
| 1998 | 15.67 million LSU | -2.3% |
| 1999 | 15.15 million LSU | -3.3% |
| 2000 | 14.89 million LSU | -1.7% |
| 2001 | 13.79 million LSU | -7.4% |
| 2002 | 13.70 million LSU | -0.7% |
| 2003 | 13.71 million LSU | +0.1% |
| 2004 | 13.77 million LSU | +0.4% |
| 2005 | 13.75 million LSU | -0.1% |
| 2006 | 13.66 million LSU | -0.7% |
| 2007 | 13.60 million LSU | -0.4% |
| 2008 | 13.38 million LSU | -1.6% |
| 2009 | 13.16 million LSU | -1.6% |
| 2010 | 13.01 million LSU | -1.1% |
| 2011 | 12.77 million LSU | -1.9% |
| 2012 | 12.74 million LSU | -0.2% |
| 2013 | 12.93 million LSU | +1.5% |
| 2014 | 12.96 million LSU | +0.2% |
| 2015 | 13.08 million LSU | +0.9% |
| 2016 | 13.11 million LSU | +0.2% |
| 2017 | 13.23 million LSU | +0.9% |
| 2018 | 12.92 million LSU | -2.3% |
| 2019 | 12.67 million LSU | -2.0% |
| 2020 | 12.38 million LSU | -2.3% |
| 2021 | 12.20 million LSU | -1.4% |
| 2022 | 12.00 million LSU | -1.6% |
| 2023 | 11.73 million LSU | -2.3% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Sheep — Stocks in Europe changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | -26.0% | 28.73 million LSU | 21.26 million LSU |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 26.68 million LSU | 25.79 million LSU | 27.18 million LSU | 9 |
| 1970s | 26.31 million LSU | 25.60 million LSU | 26.98 million LSU | 10 |
| 1980s | 28.11 million LSU | 26.62 million LSU | 29.78 million LSU | 10 |
| 1990s | 20.02 million LSU | 15.15 million LSU | 29.52 million LSU | 10 |
| 2000s | 13.74 million LSU | 13.16 million LSU | 14.89 million LSU | 10 |
| 2010s | 12.94 million LSU | 12.67 million LSU | 13.23 million LSU | 10 |
| 2020s | 12.08 million LSU | 11.73 million LSU | 12.38 million LSU | 4 |
Countries ranked near Europe
- 7 Australia 7.21 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
- 11 Sudan 4.00 million LSU compare
- 11 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 62,011 LSU compare
- 12 Ethiopia 3.99 million LSU compare
- 12 Republic of Moldova 41,690 LSU compare
- 13 Democratic People's Republic of Korea 16,668 LSU compare
- 13 Pakistan 3.23 million LSU compare
More environment data for Europe
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -1.75 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -3.33 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.435 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 2.71 °C (2025)
- Total fibre furnish — Production 101.18 million t (2024)
- Recovered paper — Production 57.94 million t (2024)
- Paper and paperboard — Production 94.14 million t (2024)
- Other paper and paperboard — Production 73.33 million t (2024)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Use per area of cropland 49.53 kg/ha (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is sheep — stocks in Europe?
- Sheep — stocks in Europe was 11.73 million LSU in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest sheep — stocks recorded in Europe?
- The highest recorded value was 29.78 million LSU in 1989.
- What is the lowest sheep — stocks recorded in Europe?
- The lowest recorded value was 11.73 million LSU in 2023.
- How does Europe rank for sheep — stocks?
- Europe ranks 10th out of 31 groups with data for 2023.
- Is sheep — stocks rising or falling in Europe?
- Over the last ten years it is down 9.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Europe 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.