Livestock farming and meat production

The statistics on livestock and meat serve as input to ensure that the common agricultural policy is properly administered, particularly where the beef, veal, pork, mutton, goat and poultry meat markets are concerned. The data on livestock production and purchase prices also serve as input for economic accounts for agriculture and national accounts.
The production data serve as input for supply balance sheets of agricultural products and the data on animals for material flow accounts.
The data on organic livestock farming are used by the European Commission in monitoring the development of organic farming.
The Estonian Environmental Research Centre uses the data for preparing Estonia’s national inventory on greenhouse gases.

Yearly data: livestock production (meat, milk, eggs, wool, honey, beeswax), change in the number of livestock (cattle, sheep, goats); number of organic livestock and poultry, organic livestock production;
quarterly data: number of cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and poultry as at the last day of the quarter; production of meat, milk and eggs;
monthly data: number of purchased animals, weight and value of meat and offal received from purchased animals; number of slaughtered animals and meat received from them in approved meat establishments.

Classification of Estonian administrative units and settlements (EHAK);

Combined Nomenclature (CN)

Agriculture

Agricultural holding – a unit with single technical and financial management which produces agricultural products or maintains its land in good agricultural and environmental condition and whose livestock are registered with the Agricultural Registers and Information Board (ARIB) or which exceeds the threshold for agricultural holdings.

Until 2019, the threshold for agricultural holdings was:
- at least one hectare of utilised agricultural area, or
- less than one hectare of utilised agricultural area and agricultural products are produced mainly for sale.

From 2020, the threshold for agricultural holdings is at least:
- 5 hectares of utilised agricultural area or
- 2 hectares of arable land or
- 0.5 hectares of potatoes or
- 0.5 hectares of vegetables and strawberries or
- 0.2 hectares of aromatic and medicinal plants and herbs, flowers, seeds, nurseries or
- 0.3 hectares of fruit and berry plantations, other permanent crops (except nurseries) or
- 100 m2 of greenhouses or
- 1.7 livestock units.

Agricultural small unit – a unit which is smaller than an agricultural holding and whose land use is not registered with the Agricultural Registers and Information Board (ARIB), and where there are at least:
- 50 square metres of kitchen garden or three fruit trees or six berry bushes, or
- 10 rabbits, 10 poultry heads or other agricultural animals, or
- three colonies of bees.

Agricultural producer – a legal or natural person, or a group of legal or natural persons, whose holding is situated in Estonia and who engages in agricultural activity

Approved meat establishments – according to the Food Act, all enterprises must receive approval from the Agriculture and Food Board. Approval is a procedure, in the course of which the food-processing companies or their parts are checked with regard to their compliance with the Food Act, Regulations (EC) No 852/2004 and 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and with all other relevant regulations governing food processing.

Average number of laying hens – quotient of number of laying hens' feeding days and number of calendar days of the reference quarter (year)

Average yield per cow – average quantity of milk obtained in a quarter (year) per dairy cow

Average yield per hen – average quantity of eggs obtained in a quarter (year) per laying hen

Bovine meat – the weight of a slaughtered bovine animal’s cold body after having been skinned, bled and eviscerated, and after removal of the genital organs with the attached muscles and the udder and the mammary fat, after the feet have been severed at the carpo-metacarpal or tarsometatarsal joints and the removal of the head

Bulls – non-castrated male bovine animals not included under calves and young cattle

Bullocks – castrated male bovine animals not included under calves and young cattle

Certified organic products – agricultural products received from a fully converted organic agricultural area or certified organic livestock and that can be labelled as fully organic

Conversion period – transition from non-organic to organic farming, within a given time period, during which the provisions concerning organic production are applied. During that period, the production cannot yet be labelled as organic.

Cows – female bovine animals who have calved at least once

Dairy cows – cows kept to produce milk

Enterprise – an enterprise consists of one or more companies (public limited company, private limited company, limited partnership, general partnership, commercial association) or branches of foreign companies or sole proprietors

Fattening pigs – fattening pigs with live weight of 50 kg or more, including cull boars and cull sows

Fully converted – agricultural area and/or livestock which has passed the fixed conversion period from non-organic to organic farming, during which the provisions concerning organic production were applied and will continue to be applied. After the conversion period, the production can be labelled as organic.

Heifers – female bovine animals who have not yet calved and who are not included under calves and young cattle

Livestock unit (LSU) – a standard measurement unit that allows the aggregation of various kinds of livestock and poultry. Livestock units are defined on the basis of the feed requirements of individual animal categories. A dairy cow corresponds to one livestock unit, the coefficients of other animals are smaller (e.g. bovine animal – 0.8; fattening pig – 0.3; broiler – 0.007). The coefficients of livestock units are stated in Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

Meat production – meat of animals sold to meat production and processing enterprises (slaughterhouses) or to buyers for slaughter, incl. for export (from Estonia to third countries as well as to other European Union countries), and meat of animals slaughtered in slaughterhouses belonging to holdings or slaughtered elsewhere as a service

Mutton and goat meat – the weight of a slaughtered sheep or goat’s cooled body after having been skinned, bled and eviscerated (except the kidneys, kidney fats), and after removal of the head (separated at the atloido-occipital joint), of the feet (severed at the carpo-metacarpal or tarsometatarsal joints), of the tail (severed between the sixth and seventh caudal vertebrae) and of the genital organs (including udder)

Offal – heart, lungs, liver and tongue (excl. tongue of sheep and goat)

Organic farming – sustainable production of agricultural produce, which maintains basic equilibrium, and is carried out in compliance with the Organic Farming Act and other relevant legislation. Holdings with organic production have the approval of the Agriculture and Food Board (either fully compliant with the principles of organic production or still in a conversion period).

Other cows – cattle for fattening, suckler cows, cows of a beef breed

Pig-meat – the weight of a slaughtered pig’s cooled body after having been bled and eviscerated and after removal of kidneys and flare fat, the bristles, the genital organs, the tongue, the diaphragm and the hooves

Poultry – domestic birds of any species

Purchase – animals and poultry purchased from Estonian agricultural producers

Value – purchase price, excluding value added tax

Agricultural holding;

agricultural small unit;

enterprise

Agricultural holdings and agricultural small units with livestock or poultry;

meat processing establishments approved by the Agriculture and Food Board

Estonia as a whole;

counties

Yearly data on livestock and poultry 1980–…

Quarterly data on livestock and poultry and monthly data on purchase of livestock and poultry 2004–…

Data on livestock and poultry slaughtered in approved meat processing establishments 2008–…

Data on organic livestock farming 2013–…

Annual change in the number of livestock 2015–...

Not applicable

Official Statistics Act.

From 2025, statistics on livestock farming and meat production are governed by Regulation (EU) 2022/2379 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 November 2022 on statistics on agricultural input and output, amending Commission Regulation (EC) No 617/2006 and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1165/2008, (EC) No 543/2009 and (EC) No 1185/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Directive 96/16/EC (Text with EEA relevance), and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2745 of 8 December 2023 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) 2022/2379 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards animal production statistics (Text with EEA relevance).

Until 2024, statistics on livestock farming and meat production were governed by Regulation (EC) No 1165/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 concerning livestock and meat statistics and repealing Council Directives 93/23/EEC, 93/24/EEC and 93/25/EEC (Text with EEA relevance) and

Commission Regulation (EC) No 617/2008 of 27 June 2008 laying down detailed rules for implementing Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as regards marketing standards for eggs for hatching and farmyard poultry chicks.

None

News items can be viewed on Statistics Estonia's website in the section Agriculture.

The production of news releases is decided on a rolling basis.

Not published

Data are published in the statistical database under the subject area Economy/Agriculture / Agricultural production / Livestock production in the following tables:

PM09: Livestock and poultry by county (quarters);

PM10: Livestock production by county (quarters);

PM100: Livestock production by county;

PM12: Livestock and poultry productivity by county (quarters);

PM120: Livestock and poultry productivity by county;

PM13: Annual change in the number of livestock;

PM161: Livestock production per inhabitant;

PM190: Slaughtered animals in approved meat establishments and meat received (months);

PM1901: Slaughtered animals in approved meat establishments and meat received;

PM192: Purchase of cattle, pigs, sheep and goats (months);

PM1921: Purchase of cattle, pigs, sheep and goats;

PM1971: Certified organic livestock and production thereof.

Data tables ((PM09, PM10, PM12, PM13, PM100, PM120, PM161, PM190, PM192, PM1901, PM1921, PM1971, PM197) related to the survey were viewed 2,828 times in 2024, 4,155 times in 2023, 3,854 times in 2022, 3,829 times in 2021, 4,839 times in 2020, 4,829 times in 2019 and 3,213 times in 2018.
Each table view is counted as a separate viewing. This is based on the database URLs, which show that the data have been selected and the table formed.

The dissemination of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in § 33, § 34, § 35, § 36, § 38 of the Official Statistics Act.
Access to microdata and anonymisation of microdata are regulated by Statistics Estonia’s procedure for dissemination of confidential data for scientific purposes.

Data on livestock farming are submitted to Eurostat in accordance with the dates and data sets specified in EU legislation.

Data on trade in farmyard poultry chicks (617/2008) are not currently submitted separately to Eurostat, as it has been agreed that they will obtain these data directly from foreign trade data. Data on poultry chicks hatched in hatcheries are also submitted to Eurostat (with a confidentiality flag) if there are hatcheries, but these data are not published in Estonia due to confidentiality reasons (there are currently no hatcheries in Estonia). The data are transferred to Eurostat via the data transmission program EDAMIS.

Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1165/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council, a report is compiled every three years describing the methodology applied and level of precision achieved. A quality report on the statistics on laying hens and their eggs and on hatcheries and trade in farmyard poultry chicks is also submitted.

Data serve as input for statistical activities 21206 “Purchase and use of milk”, 21207 “Economic accounts for agriculture”, 21209 “Statistical register of agricultural holdings” and 21213 “Supply balance sheets of agricultural products”.

The metadata related to the statistical activity were viewed 64 times (1 January 2024 – 31 December 2024). This figure does not represent the number of viewers, as the metadata may have been viewed multiple times by a single user.

Handbook "Organic Production Statistics""

Pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2022/2379 of the European Parliament and of the Council a report is compiled every three years describing the methodology applied and level of precision achieved.
A summary of the quality report is published on Eurostat's website in the section Animal production.

Data are collected quarterly from the largest enterprises with poultry (at least 5,000 poultry) with questionnaire 1460 "Livestock farming. Poultry". The sample size is up to 15 units.
Data on livestock purchases are collected monthly from all larger enterprises that purchase animals quarterly with questionnaire 1268 "Purchase of livestock". The sample size is 20–30 units, depending on the year, and coverage is at least 80%.

Data on milk production per dairy cow are received from the website of Estonian Livestock Performance Recording Ltd.
Aggregate data on organic livestock farming, slaughterings of agricultural animals, honey production, and quantity of milk products produced in agricultural holdings and quantity of milk used for this production are received from the Agriculture and Food Board.
Data on the number of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, colonies of bees and poultry are received from the register of agricultural animals of the Agricultural Registers and Information Board; in the case of animals, this includes the changes in number by reason.
Aggregate data on sheep wool and milk are obtained from the Centre of Estonian Rural Research and Knowledge.
Data on organic livestock and their production are received from the organic farming register of the Agriculture and Food Board.

Data from statistical activities 21216 “Survey of agricultural small units” and 22303 “Foreign trade” (imports and exports of live animals) are used.

Year;

quarter;

month

Administrative data are generally received by email. Data of the Estonian Livestock Performance Recording Ltd are taken from their website.

Survey-based source data are collected and the submission of questionnaires is monitored through a web-based data submission self-service environment. The questionnaires have been designed for independent completion in the self-service environment and include instructions and controls. The questionnaires and information about data submission are available on the website of Statistics Estonia in the section Questionnaires.
Data from the largest enterprises with poultry (at least 5,000 poultry) are collected quarterly with questionnaire 1460 "Livestock farming. Poultry". The sample size is up to 15 units.
Data on livestock purchases are collected monthly from all larger enterprises that purchase agricultural animals with questionnaire 1268 "Purchase of livestock". The sample size is 20–30 units, depending on the year, and coverage is at least 80%.

Arithmetic and qualitative checks are used in the validation process, including comparison with the data of previous periods or other surveys and with administrative data sources.

Statistics on livestock farming are produced using administrative data and, in the absence thereof, survey-based raw data. Data of enterprises and agricultural holdings that have not completed the questionnaire will be replaced by data of the previous period or mean data. In addition, foreign trade data and, where necessary, model-based calculations based on previous data are used. Random samples are not used and therefore weights are not calculated. Other required indicators are calculated on the basis of the data collected.

Data on small units are estimated and updated every ten years on the basis of social survey data. Variables which were not collected directly but which are necessary for producing the output are calculated. New variables are calculated by applying arithmetic conversion to already existing variables. This may be done repeatedly; the derived variable may, in turn, be based on previously derived new variables. Microdata are aggregated to the level necessary for analysis. This includes summation of data according to the classification and calculating various statistical measures, e.g. mean. The collected data are converted into statistical output. This includes calculating additional variables.

In annual livestock statistics, livestock movement balance sheets are compiled by type of animal (cattle, dairy cows, pigs, sheep, goats, poultry). Where necessary, adjustments are made to the balance sheets, primarily for births or losses.
The number of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and bee colonies is based on livestock data from ARIB. To the number of sheep and goats, the estimated number of animals not registered in ARIB is added based on previous years.
The data from agricultural small units collected with small units survey are added to the number of bee colonies and poultry.
The share of slaughter animals in the number of livestock is calculated using coefficients based on previous years.
Based on meat production, live weight is also calculated using coefficients and it is used in economic accounts for agriculture.
The average price of meat is calculated based on the cost and quantity.
Beeswax production is estimated on the basis of honey production.
Livestock production per capita is calculated by dividing the production by the number of inhabitants.

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