UK pigmeat production during the first quarter of 2025 was 6.4% up on the same period a year ago, Defra statistics show.
March UK lean pig slaughterings were 6% up year on year at 857,000 head, with pigmeat production nearly 7% up at 81,000 tonnes. Average weekly slaughterings, at 194,000 head, were down on both the January and February figures, however.
The March total meant that over the first three months of 2025, the UK produced 244,500t of pigmeat, a substantial gain of nearly 15,000t (6.4%), compared with the same period last year. It is worth noting that Q1 2024 volumes were the lowest recorded since 2017, however, AHDB analyst Freya Shuttleworth pointed out.
UK clean pig kill totalled 2.59 million head during the first quarter, a 5.5% year-on-year increase of almost 136,000 head (5.5%). As pigs are often pulled forward for slaughter to meet Christmas demand, quarterly numbers were 111,000 head lower than Q4 2024, in line with seasonal trends.
Meanwhile, carcase weights have continued to rise, continuing the trend seen through 2024. The average dressed carcase weight for January – March 2025 was 91.5kg, 1kg heavier than year earlier weights and up almost 2kg compared to the last three months of 2024.
These two trends combined to deliver the 6.4% rise in overall pigmeat production during Q1.
The slaughter trend continued into the first week of April, according to AHDB’s estimated GB slaughterings for the week ended April 5, which at at 161,936 head, were 9,000 above 2024 levels and 12,000 above the 2023 figure, with carcase weights averaging 91.34kg in the SPP sample.