Livestock population in Russia by year: statistics since 1990 and charts

2026-08-16 · Agriculture, hunting and forestry

The population of cattle in Russia at the end of 2025 amounted to 15.66 million head, including 6.96 million cows. In 1990, the country had 57.04 million head of cattle and 20.56 million cows. A reduction by 3.6 times and 3.0 times, respectively. Data from Rosstat, households of all categories.

Meanwhile, the number of pigs in the country is almost the same as in Soviet times, and broiler poultry farms have increased. Below are the full series for all types of animals since 1990 and an analysis of why some have declined while others have recovered.

Population by type: table

Households of all categories, at year-end, thousand head.

Every row collapsed in the nineties. After that, the fates diverged: pigs and poultry have fully recovered from the decline, sheep and goats by half, while cattle have not recovered at all and continue to decline to this day.

Cattle: thirty-five years of decline

This series has never reversed. Even in the years most favourable for agriculture, livestock numbers continued to shrink, albeit more slowly. In the last two years the decline has accelerated again: down 4.9% in 2024 and down 3.5% in 2025.

The reason lies in the economics of milk and beef. A cow pays for itself over years, beef cattle take a year and a half to two years to reach slaughter weight, while a pig reaches market weight in half a year. Investment therefore flowed to where money turns over faster. The full series can be viewed on the livestock chart.

Pigs and sheep: two different scenarios

Pig farming has completed a full cycle: a collapse to 13.7 million head in 2004, followed by two decades of growth to 28.4 million, with almost no setbacks. That is 74% of the 1990 level, and given that a modern pig yields more meat, production volume has long since been exceeded.

Sheep and goats have followed a different path. The 1999 low (14.78 million) was followed by growth to 24.72 million in 2016, but then a new decline began and has now persisted for nine straight years. By 2025 only 17.65 million head remain.

Poultry: Soviet-era record almost reached

Poultry farming has recovered faster than any other sector: from 340.7 million head in 2000 to 555.8 million in 2017. It is still about a hundred million head short of the 1990 level, but productivity has increased so much that the country now produces more poultry meat and eggs than in Soviet times.

Who keeps the livestock: factories or people

Rosstat maintains three parallel series: households of all categories, agricultural organizations, and households of the population. The difference between them explains everything.

Pigs, thousand head:

The number of pigs kept by households has fallen to 18% of the 1990 level, while in enterprises it has reached 86%. The industry has not just recovered; it has moved to industrial complexes. African swine fever accelerated the process: backyard farms in quarantine zones were culled, while industrial sites with biosecurity measures survived.

The same logic applies to poultry farming: agricultural organizations have 471.4 million head compared to 465.3 million in 1990, while households have 61.6 million compared to 194.5 million. The only exception is horses: enterprises now have 186 thousand compared to 2,344 thousand in 1990, while households have 679 thousand compared to 274 thousand. The horse has ceased to be a source of labor and become a private hobby.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many cows are there in Russia in 2025?

6.96 million head in farms of all categories at year-end. This is 3.0 times fewer than in 1990 (20.56 million), and 3.5% fewer than a year earlier.

Why is the number of cows decreasing?

Dairy farming requires long-term investments, and milk yields per cow have increased so much over these years that the same volume of milk is now produced with a smaller herd. In addition, there is competition for investment from pig and poultry farming, where money turnover is faster.

Which animals are now more numerous in Russia than in the Soviet era?

No species in terms of headcount, but pig and poultry farming have surpassed Soviet levels in meat production due to productivity. Among individual categories, only the number of horses kept by the population has grown: 679 thousand versus 274 thousand in 1990.

How many pigs are there in Russia?

28.44 million head at year-end 2025, the highest figure since 1994. Of these, 26.96 million are in agricultural organisations.

What has happened to sheep?

After growth from 1999 to 2016, the headcount is falling again: from 24.72 million to 17.65 million. Most sheep are concentrated in households and farms in the North Caucasus, Volga region, and Siberia.

Are new regions included?

No. A Rosstat note states that the data are presented without statistical information for the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.

In Brief

Over the past thirty-five years, the number of cattle in Russia has fallen 3.6-fold, cows 3.0-fold, and the decline continues. Pig farming has almost fully recovered from the nineties collapse (28.4 million head versus 38.3 million in 1990), and poultry farming has nearly reached Soviet levels. The main change is structural: livestock farming has moved from household plots to industrial complexes.

All series are taken from Rosstat’s open publications and are updated on the website as new data become available.

See also

• Livestock in all categories of farms, 1990–2025
• Livestock in agricultural organizations
• Livestock in households
• Retail trade turnover in Russia by year
• Inflation in Russia by year
• Full section “Agriculture, hunting and forestry”