• Highlights

• Value of the main livestock products increases by 5.4% in 2023 and reaches R$ 122.4 billion.
• The livestock products surveyed reached R$ 112.3 billion, an increase of 4.5% from 2022, and aquiculture items accounted for R$ 10.2 billion, an increase of 16.6%.
• Cattle herd amounts to 238.6 million head, a record in the time series initiated in 1974; São Félix do Xingu (PA) is in the leading position among the municipalities.
• The national milk production increased by 2.4% and amounted to 35.4 billion liters; the municipality of Castro (PR) leads the ranking once more.
• The number of hen eggs is 1.6 billion head, an increase of 0.6% from 2022. Itaberaí (GO) leads the municipalities, with 16.0 million head.
• Goats (4.0%) and sheep (1.3%) increased in 2023; Casa Nova (BA) is in the top position of both groups at national level.
• Production of hen eggs reached a new record in the time series of the survey: Santa Maria de Jetibá (ES) is the leader.
• Hogs and pigs dropped by 3.1% and reached 43.0 million animals; Toledo (PR) is on the top position among Brazilian municipalities.
• The production of fish reached 655.3 mil thousand metric tons. Morada Nova de Minas (MG) is on top of the ranking.
• Production of honey increased by 2.7% in 2023; Santana do Cariri (CE) is the leader among municipalities.

Value of production found by PPM 2023 hit R$ 122.4 billion, an increase of 5.4% from the previous year. Livestock productsreached R$ 112.3 billion, an increase of 4.5% from 2022, and aquaculture items were responsible for R$ 10.2 billion, an increase of 16.6%.

Cattle inventory reached 238.6 million head in 2023, the highest in the time series initiated in 1974. Although the figure means an increase of the herd, the change by 1.6% from the previous year was the lowest percent change observed in the last three years, which shows a trend to deceleration in the sector and reversal of the livestock cycle.

The Municipal Livestock Survey 2023, released today by the IBGE, presents information like this about inventories, livestock products and aquiculture in the country, which are also available on the survey page on the IBGE website on Sidra.

Among the municipalities, São Félix do Xingu (Pará), despite a decrease of 2.8% from 2022, once more leading the municipal ranking of cattle inventories, with a total 2.5 million head. Corumbá (Mato Grosso do Sul) keeps the second biggest herd, 2.2 million head, and Porto Velho (Rondônia) remained in the third position in 2023, with 1.8 million cattle head.

Milk production hit a record in 2023 and reached 35.4 billion liters, in spite of the decrease in the number of milked cows. They amounted to 15.7 million, 0.1% less than in 2022, the lowest number of milked cows observed since 1979.

After two years of decrease, production of milk increases again

In 2023, the estimated production of cow milk was 35.4 billion liters. This figure corresponds to an increase of 2.4% in national production. The value of milk production in 2023 amounted to R$ 80.4 billion, an increase of 0.4% from 2022. The average estimated price was R$ 2.27  per liter of milk, a drop of 1.9% from the previous year, when the price paid was R$ 2,31.

“Milk production activity had been on a downward trends and now it recorded an increase in 2023, despite the slight reduction in the number of dairy cows (0.1%). So the increase in production means an increase in productivity,” says Mariana Oliveira, analyst of PPM.

The municipality of Castro (Paraná) had the biggest output, and led the ranking once more, with 454.0 million liters, 6.4% more than in the previous year, and value of production of R$ 1.3 billion. Carambeí (Paraná) remained in the second position, with 269.9 million liters, an increase of 5.6%, and R$ 755.7 million, followed, as in the previous survey, by Patos de Minas (Minas Gerais), with 211.1 million liters produced and R$ 513.0 million in value of production.   

It was estimated that there were 1.6 billion chicken head in Brazil, an increase of 0.6% compared to the previous year, equivalent to 9.05 million more animals. In 2023, there was a new record for fresh chicken meat exported, as well as an increase in chicken slaughter by 2.8% and 3.5% in cumulative weight, hitting a survey record.

The South Region led once again in 2023, with 48.4% of the total inventory, mainly as a result of the importance of Paraná in the activity. With 28.7% of the national total, it has been the main state in this headcount since 2006; the number of 453.4 million animals in 2023 was also a record for the Federation Unit. Both the Major Region and the state also stand out in Brazil regarding cattle slaughter.

The second largest inventory is in São Paulo, with 13.0% of the total, while Rio Grande do Sul had 10.1%, Santa Catarina 9.6% and Minas Gerais 7.7%, corresponding to the third, fourth and fifth largest inventories.

Itaberaí (Goiás) kept a high number of chickens, with 16.0 million head, ranking as the main municipality in terms of numbers, followed by Santa Maria de Jetibá (Espírito Santo), São Bento do Una (Pernambuco), Cianorte (Paraná) and Bastos (São Paulo). 

With the Northeast region standing out, goat and sheep herds are increasing 

The number of goats increased by 4.0% in 2023, reaching 12.9 million animals, while the number of sheep increased by 1.3%, reaching 21.8 million animals. Both are records in the time series of the survey. The Northeast region was mainly responsible for this increase, as it accounts for 96.0% of all goats and 71.2% of all sheep. 

Bahia and Pernambuco stand out regarding this production, as the first and second states in both types of farming, with 30.7% of the goat herd and 23.0% of the sheep herd in the country coming from Bahia, while 26.1% and 16.9% of those herds, respectively, are from Pernambuco.

At municipal level, the biggest inventories of goats are found in Casa Nova (Bahia), Floresta (Pernambuco), Juazeiro (Bahia), Curaçá (Bahia) and Petrolina (Pernambuco). The same municipality is the main one for sheep, Casa Nova (Bahia), followed by Juazeiro (Bahia), Remanso (Bahia), Dormentes (Pernambuco) and Sant'Ana do Livramento (Rio Grande do Sul), which, in contrast to the previous municipalities, is important for wool production. 

Egg production reaches a new record in the time series of the survey  

With a total of 4.99 billion dozen, the hen egg production in Brazil increased by 2.9% in the year 2023, resulting in a new record in the time series, which estimates that egg production has been increasing uninterruptedly since 1999.

The main five municipalities in terms of egg production were Santa Maria de Jetibá (Espírito Santo), Bastos (São Paulo), Primavera do Leste (Mato Grosso), São Bento do Una (Pernambuco) and Beberibe (Ceará). 

With record slaughter and exports, the stock of pig is in decline

A total of 43.0 million pigs were registered in this edition of the survey. On the last day of 2023, there were 3.1% less animals in the country compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, with a negative change of 0.4%, the total number of hogs and pigs was practically stable, with 5.0 million animals recorded. There was also a 1.3% increase in the slaughter of hogs and pigs, reaching a record in 2023, but with deceleration of increase in the sector. There was also a record in fresh pork exports.

“The drop in hogs and pigs is due to some uncertainties in the year of 2023. We have seen a significant increase in recent years due to the volume of exports, especially to China, supplying the demand from that country. In 2023, this demand decreased. Another point was production costs for pig farmers”, explained Mariana Oliveira, an analyst of PPM. 

The main five municipalities in terms of hog and pigs numbers were, in this sequence, Toledo (Paraná), Uberlândia (Minas Gerais), Marechal Cândido Rondon (Paraná), Concórdia (Santa Catarina) and Tapurah (Mato Grosso).

Driven by the Northeast region, honey production hits its peak

National honey production increased by 2.7% in 2023, totaling 64.2 million kilograms, the highest value ever recorded in the time series of the survey, which has seen consecutive increases since 2016 and, since 2018, has reached records each year.

The Northeast, which in 2022 surpassed the South in terms of production, recorded a 4.1% increase in its result, accounting for 39.9% of the national total in 2023. Piauí stands out, with 13.8% of national production, Ceará (8.9%), Bahia (7.4%) and Maranhão (5.0%).

The municipalities with the largest honey production were the following order, Santana do Cariri (Ceará), Arapoti (Paraná), Santa Luzia do Paruá (Maranhão), São Raimundo Nonato (Piauí) and Ortigueira (Paraná).

Fish and shrimp production hits a record

The fish production estimate for 2023 increased by 5.8% to 655,300 tons, resulting in a production value of 6.7 billion reais, an increase of 16.8% from the previous year.

The most produced fish in Brazil since the beginning of the fish farming survey has been tilapia. In 2023, its production accounted for 67.5% of the total.. Compared to the previous year, there was an increase of 7.6%, resulting in 442.2 million kilograms. The main municipality in fish farming in 2023 was Morada Nova de Minas (Minas Gerais), which significantly increased its production, now representing 3.1% of the national production. Still at municipal level, Nova Aurora (Paraná), Jatobá (Pernambuco), Palotina (Paraná) and Assis Chateaubriand (Paraná) stood out as major producers. Together, the five of them account for 12.8% of Brazilian fish production.

Brazilian production of shrimp raised in captivity reached 127,500 tons, an increase of 13.0% over the previous year. The value of production was R$2.63 billion, equivalent to an increase of 18.3%. This estimate corresponds to a record in the production time series, which has been increasing continuously since 2017.

Out of the total, 99.6% comes from the Northeast, mainly from Ceará (57.0%) and Rio Grande do Norte (19.4%). The largest producing municipalities are in the two main states, starting with Aracati (Ceará), which produces 13,800 tons and accounts for 10.8% of national production and 18.9% of state production. Following it are Jaguaruana-CE (7.8%), Pendências-RN (5.2%), Acaraú-CE (5.1%) and Russas-CE (4.5%).

More about the survey

Every year, the Municipal Livestock Production Survey (PPM) investigates information on the main livestock species raised and the production of milk, hen and quail eggs, bee honey, greasy wool and cocoons of silkworm, as well as aquaculture (fish farming, shrimp farming and mollusk farming), thus constituting the main source of statistics for this economic segment.

The survey provides information on the livestock inventories existing in the municipality on the reference date of the survey, as well as on the production of animal origin and the value of the production during the reference year. The inventories include cattle, pigs and hogs, pig matrices, poultry, hens, quails, horses, buffaloes, goats and sheep. The production of animal origin, on turn, includes the output of milk, hen eggs, quail eggs, honey, greasy wool and cocoons of silkworm; the amount of milked cows and sheared sheep; and aquaculture, which includes fish farming, shrimp farming and mollusk farming.

The periodicity of the survey is annual. The geographic coverage is national, with results released for Brazil, Major Regions, Federation Units, Mesoregions, Microregions and Municipalities.