Having trended well above year-earlier figures for the first eight months of the year, September UK clean pig slaughterings were down 1.1% on September 2025 at 890,000 head, the latest Defra update shows.
Throughput in the year to September remains 2.4% higher year on year at 7.9m head, despite the September dip, according to AHDB’s summary of Defra’s data.
While GB slaughterings in September were slightly higher year on year, the reduction has been driven by Northern Ireland, where there was a 9.5% reduction to 153,000 head. In the year to date, GB slaughterings are 3.8% up year on year at 6.5m head, while the figure for NI is 3.3% lower at 1.42m head.
September sow and boar slaughterings for GB at 18,800 head were 13% up on September 2025, while at 161,700 head, the figure for the year so far is more than 10% higher year on year, as producers respond to the current situation by trimming their herds.
In Scotland, the picture is even more dramatic – September sow and boar slaughterings were 71% higher at 2,300 head and in the year to date, the figure was 54% higher at 19,400 head. No figures were available for NI.
UK pigmeat production in September, at 84,000 tonnes, was just 0.2% lower year on year, on the back of heavier carcase weights. In the year to September, pigmeat production is 4.3% up year on year at 753,000 tonnes.
AHDB GB slaughterings
AHDB’s estimated GB clean pig slaughterings have been revised downwards following the publication of the Defra figures. At 165,326 head, the estimated figure for the week ended October 10 was slightly down on the year-earlier figure, after been 18,000 head lower year on year the previous week.
Average carcase weights continue to grow, gaining a further 0.49kg to stand at 93.93kg in the SPP sample, an increase of 4kg since early August, and now less than 2kg below the January peak. Carcase weights are 2kg above year-earlier levels, likely reflecting a mixed of improved performance and an imbalance of supply and demand.
This, in turn, is feeding through to the pig price, with the higher volume of the largest category of pigs, contributing to the latest fall in the SPP last week.