Livestock Numbers: Data To 2023

What is measured

Livestock numbers is an indicator based on data from Stats NZ's Agricultural Production Statistics (APS) programme, which collects data on farms that are registered for goods and services tax (GST) and earn over $60,000 a year.

We report the numbers of dairy cattle, beef cattle, deer, and sheep in Aotearoa New Zealand nationally between 1990 and 2023 from the APS census and survey years, and by region from census years, 1990 and 2022. We approximate the density of these livestock nationally in 2022.

Why it is important

Livestock farming is a widespread land use in New Zealand and a significant contributor to our economy. However, livestock may adversely affect the environment, with the extent of impact dependent on the type, size, and animal intensity.

Livestock, particularly cattle, generate methane emissions, which contribute to climate change. Livestock can adversely affect indigenous biodiversity and soil health (for example, through erosion, habitat loss, soil compaction, and elevated nutrient concentration) (Luo & Ledgard, 2021).

Water quality can also be adversely affected, as nutrients, sediment, and bacteria from urine and faeces leach or run off the land into rivers, lakes, and groundwaters (Davies-Colley, 2013). This can affect the health of aquatic ecosystems, as well as recreation and cultural values associated with rivers and lakes. The diminishment of water quality is of great concern to Māori and impacts mātauranga (knowledge systems), tikanga (cultural practice), whakapapa (genealogy), and mahinga kai (traditional food resources) connected to water (Mika, 2021; Parsons et al., 2021). Reduced and degraded habitats profoundly affect Māori wellbeing and the reflection of identity in natural landscapes.

Key findings

The number of dairy cattle increased by 71 percent nationally from 3.4 million to 5.9 million between 1990 and 2023. The peak number of dairy cattle was 6.7 million in 2014.

The following four maps show livestock density per hectare across New Zealand for dairy cattle, beef cattle, sheep, and deer in 2022.

Text alternative for Dairy cattle density in New Zealand, 2022
A map of New Zealand including the Chatham Islands represents a snapshot of the dairy cattle density (number of dairy cattle per hectare of farmland) in New Zealand including Chatham Islands in 2022. The map shows meshblocks and groups of meshblocks coloured one of seven colours from purple to yellow, according to the range in the density of dairy cattle, from less than or equal to 0.14 dairy cattle per hectare (purple) to more than 2.16 dairy cattle per hectare (yellow). The colour grey represents areas where data is not available. The scale shown in this map relates to dairy cattle only and should not be compared to the maps of other livestock densities on this page.

Text alternative for Beef cattle density in New Zealand, 2022
A map of New Zealand including the Chatham Islands represents a snapshot of the beef cattle density (number of beef cattle per hectare of farmland) in New Zealand including Chatham Islands in 2022. The map shows meshblocks and groups of meshblocks coloured one of seven colours from purple to yellow, according to the range in the density of beef cattle, from less than or equal to 0.08 beef cattle per hectare (purple) to more than 0.62 beef cattle per hectare (yellow). The colour grey represents areas where data is not available. The scale shown in this map relates to beef cattle only and should not be compared to the maps of other livestock densities on this page.

Text alternative for Sheep density in New Zealand, 2022
A map of New Zealand including the Chatham Islands represents a snapshot of the sheep density (number of sheep per hectare of farmland) in New Zealand including Chatham Islands in 2022. The map shows meshblocks and groups of meshblocks coloured one of seven colours from purple to yellow, according to the range in the density of sheep, from less than or equal to 0.30 sheep per hectare (purple) to more than 3.99 sheep per hectare (yellow). The colour grey represents areas where data is not available. The scale shown in this map relates to sheep only and should not be compared to the maps of other livestock densities.

Text alternative for Deer density in New Zealand, 2022
A map of New Zealand including the Chatham Islands represents a snapshot of the deer density (number of deer per hectare of farmland) in New Zealand including Chatham Islands in 2022. The map shows meshblocks and groups of meshblocks coloured one of seven colours from purple to yellow, according to the range in the density of deer, from less than or equal to 0.01 deer per hectare (purple) to more than 0.11 deer per hectare (yellow). The colour grey represents areas where data is not available. The scale shown in this map relates to deer only and should not be compared to the maps of other livestock densities.

In 2022, Waikato had the largest number of dairy cattle (1.7 million).

Between 1990 and 2022, the number of dairy cattle in Canterbury increased ten-fold (1009 percent) from 113,000 to 1.3 million. In Southland, the number of dairy cattle increased almost seventeen-fold (1668 percent) from 38,000 to 668,000 over the same period.

The number of beef cattle decreased by 17 percent nationally from 4.6 million to 3.8 million between 1990 and 2022.

The number of sheep decreased by 57 percent nationally from 57.9 million to 25.1 million between 1990 and 2022.

The number of deer decreased by 19 percent nationally from 976,000 to 794,000 between 1990 and 2022.