Livestock Populations
At any moment the world keeps roughly 29.6 billion chickens, 1.6 billion cattle, 1.3 billion sheep, 1.1 billion goats and just under 1 billion pigs. Poultry numbers have grown nearly sevenfold since 1961, far outpacing every other species. These figures count live animals on farms, not the far larger total slaughtered each year.
Key Livestock Insights
Chickens outnumber every other animal
FAO counts about 29.6 billion chickens alive at any time in 2024 — roughly 18 times the cattle population and more than every mammalian livestock species combined.
Poultry growth drives the trend
Global chicken numbers rose from 4.3 billion in 1961 to 29.6 billion in 2024, nearly a sevenfold increase, while cattle grew only about 1.7x over the same period.
Cattle concentrate in a few nations
Brazil (238 million) and India (195 million) lead FAO cattle stocks, with the United States, Ethiopia and China each holding 70–90 million head in 2024.
China dominates pig farming
China keeps about 434 million pigs — nearly half the world total — far ahead of the United States (75 million) and Brazil (43 million).
Global livestock by species (live animals)
Number of live animals worldwide for each major species, on a log scale because chickens outnumber cattle by an order of magnitude.
Key Finding: Chickens (~29.6 billion) dwarf cattle (~1.6 billion), sheep (~1.3 billion), goats (~1.1 billion) and pigs (~962 million).
Growth in livestock numbers since 1961
Trends in live animal stocks for chickens, cattle and pigs from 1961 to 2024, in billions of head.
Key Finding: Poultry rose from 4.3 billion in 1961 to 29.6 billion in 2024, far steeper than cattle or pigs.
Top cattle countries
Countries with the largest cattle stocks (FAO cattle, excluding buffalo) in 2024, millions of head.
Key Finding: Brazil (238m) and India (195m) hold the world's largest cattle herds, ahead of the US, Ethiopia and China.
Top pig countries
Countries with the largest pig (swine) stocks in 2023, millions of head.
Key Finding: China keeps about 434 million pigs — close to half the global total of roughly 966 million.
Share of farmed land animals by species
Each major species as a share of the world's live farm-animal population (2023–2024).
Key Finding: Chickens make up over 80% of all live farmed land animals counted by FAO.
Understanding Livestock Data
Live stocks vs slaughter numbers
These charts show live animal stocks — the number of animals present on farms at the time of enumeration in a given year, as reported in FAOSTAT's Crops and livestock products domain. This is different from slaughter numbers, the count of animals killed for meat over a full year. Because chickens live only weeks before slaughter, the annual number killed (tens of billions) is many times higher than the live stock at any single moment.
Why poultry dwarfs other species
Chickens reach slaughter weight in about 6 weeks and are kept in enormous flocks, so the standing population is huge: about 29.6 billion in 2024. Cattle, by contrast, take 1–3 years to mature and are far larger animals, so their live stock (~1.6 billion) is roughly 18 times smaller. We use a logarithmic scale in the species chart so the smaller mammalian populations remain visible alongside poultry.
Environmental footprint
Livestock occupy a large share of agricultural land and feed resources. Grazing land and feed-crop production together account for most of the world's farmland, and ruminants such as cattle, sheep and goats are major sources of agricultural methane. The number of animals is only a rough proxy for footprint: a single cow consumes vastly more land, water and feed than a single chicken.
Caveats
FAO figures combine national reporting with FAO estimates, and definitions vary — FAO's cattle category, for example, excludes buffalo, which adds another ~207 million head. Poultry totals here are chickens; ducks (~1.1 billion) and turkeys are reported separately. Latest available years differ slightly by species (2023 or 2024), and revisions are common, so treat all figures as best-available estimates rather than exact counts.