Output of agricultural sector amounts to 2.8 thousand billion forints
According to preliminary data, the value of output of the agricultural sector (including services and secondary activities) at current basic prices was 2.8 thousand billion forints in 2019, 36% (1.0 thousand billion forints) of which was accounted for by animals and animal products. The largest proportion (36%) of the value of production of livestock production was represented by poultry and eggs, followed by cattle and milk, with a share of 29%, pigs, with 27%, as well as other animal species and animal products, with 8.1%. The livestock of 1 December 2019 is presented taking into consideration this.
Chicken stock unchanged, volume of procurement of slaughter chickens up by 9.6%
In poultry breeding it is typical that a high proportion of households do not reach the size of a holding, therefore, data on private holdings are presented including data on households.
The number of chickens was 30.9 million on 1 December 2019, practically unchanged over a year. The laying hen stock of 11 million decreased by 1.6% compared to December 2018.
The average procurement price of slaughter chickens rose by 2.6% in 2019 compared to the previous year, to 261 forints/kilogram.
The procured quantity of slaughter chickens (156 million heads) was 9.6% more than a year earlier.
The number of eggs placed in incubator for hatching went up by 5.6% to 307 million pieces in the case of meat and dual-purpose chickens in 2019 compared to the previous year, as reported by hatcheries. In the same period, the volume of day-old chicken utilisation increased by 7.7% to 269 million for chickens intended for dual-purpose or meat production.
The 19-forint procurement price per piece of hen’s eggs for human consumption was practically the same as in 2018.
Duck, goose and turkey stocks decrease in 2019
The duck stock was reduced by 8.1% to 4.5 million over the last year. The goose stock fell by 12%, so their number equalled 1.2 million on 1 December 2019. The turkey stock of 2.7 million went down by 6.3%.
The number of eggs placed in incubator for hatching was 56.4 million for ducks and 10.5 million for geese in 2019, which was 5.6% and 2.4% less, respectively, than one year earlier. The number of eggs placed in incubator was 8.4 million for turkeys, which rose by 5.4% compared to 2018.
Day-old poultry utilisation for fattening was 6.6 million for turkeys, 6.5% more than a year earlier. The utilisation was 6.5 million in the case of geese and 40.4 million for ducks, 2.7% and 6.4% less, respectively, than in 2018.
The average procurement price of slaughter ducks reached 325 forints per kilogram in 2019, which was 3.0% lower than one year earlier. The price of slaughter geese went up by 1.7% and that of slaughter turkeys by 3.7% compared to 2018.
180 thousand more slaughter ducks and 238 thousand more slaughter geese, while 402 thousand fewer (6.4% less) slaughter turkeys were procured than a year earlier.
Number of cows up by 2.2% and procurement price of cow's milk by 5.6%
The cattle stock was 909 thousand on 1 December 2019. The stock was up by 13% in the past five years, the growth reached 107 thousand. The cow stock (412 thousand) grew by 2.2% over a year and by a total 53 thousand over five years.
The number of beef cows rose by 65 thousand in the last five years, which was equal to an increase of 63%.
The stock of heifers mated for the first time (33 thousand), aimed to replace the cow stock, was unchanged compared to December 2018. The number of cattle aged less than one year increased by 7 thousand or 2.6% and that of cattle aged 1–2 years by 11 thousand or 5.9%.
The number of procured slaughter cattle was 51 thousand in 2019, which decreased by 4.9% compared to one year earlier, while their average procurement price per kilogram (413 forints) was unchanged compared to 2018.
The procurement price of cow’s milk went up by 5.6% in the same period compared to a year earlier, 102 forints were paid on average for the litre.
There were 17 cattle per 100 hectares of agricultural area in Hungary in December 2019. The value of the indicator ranged between 27 (Veszprém) and 8 (Heves) by county. Hajdú-Bihar County was in the second place (24 heads/hectare) and Nógrád County in the third one (23 heads/hectare), i.e. they had three times as high values as Heves County did.
According to the database of the Integrated Registration and Identification System, significant differences can be observed in utilisation, too, between counties. Although the proportion of dairy cattle exceeded that of beef cattle in general, beef cattle was in excess in Somogy and Zala Counties, furthermore, in Northern Hungary and in Bács-Kiskun County. Beef cattle reached the highest proportion in Nógrád County (63%), while dairy cattle in Győr-Moson-Sopron County (74%). The proportion of dual-purpose cattle was the largest in Vas County (37%).
47% of all cattle was dairy, 35% beef and 19% dual-purpose cattle. Out of cattle breeds the Holstein-Friesian stock is dominant nationally. 97% of the dairy stock in Hungary belonged to this breed. The vast majority (99%) of dual-purpose cattle was made up by the Hungarian Simmental stock. The largest proportions of beef breeds were represented by Limousin (23%) and Charolais (18%) breeds.
Distribution of cattle stock by county and type of utilisation, 2019*
The quantity of exported live cattle has gradually risen since 2017, while that of imports has been reduced. The value of exports exceeded 50 thousand tonnes until November 2019, which could not yet be achieved in the last five years.
The main countries of destination for Hungary's live cattle were Turkey, Austria, Kosovo, Croatia and Russia. The only decrease – of some 2 thousand tonnes – between 2018 and 2019 was measured in the quantity exported to Turkey out of these. In turn, there was a spectacular growth in the quantity of cattle sold to Austria and mainly Kosovo, however, even so, Turkey remained our main external trade partner.
Pig stock cut by 8.3%, procurement price of slaughter pigs up by 22%
The number of pigs was 2.6 million on 1 December 2019, decreasing by 8.3% compared to December 2018. It may have resulted among others from restrictions introduced because of the emergence of African swine fever in Hungary's game stock and from the PRRS eradication programme (eradication of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome in the pig stock), launched in 2014 and expected to be completed by the end of 2021.
As for the composition of the pig stock by age, sex and utilisation, the number of fattening pigs was reduced by 103 thousand (by 8.0%), that of piglets by 34 thousand (by 4.9%) and the number of young pigs by 73 thousand (by 11%) over the past year. The number of gilts not yet mated remained unchanged, and that of sows in farrow fell by 12%, the number of sows mated for the first time by 10% and that of drafts by 16% compared to December 2018. The stock of breeding sows was cut by 13% over a year to equal 155 thousand in December 2019.
In 2019 the average procurement price per kilogram of slaughter pigs was 445 forints, which was an increase of 22% compared to 2018.
The number of procured slaughter pigs (3.7 million) lessened by 5.3%, their average weight was 116 kilograms.
In external trade in live pigs, as opposed to cattle, the quantity imported to the country has exceeded the quantity of exports for years. The difference between exports and imports started to decline after the peak in 2017, which was due mainly to a relatively high rate of fall in imports.
Sheep and ewe stocks both fall
The stock of sheep was 1.1 million and the stock of ewes 782 thousand on 1 December 2019, the number of the former being 48 thousand and that of the latter 16 thousand lower than one year earlier.
The average procurement price per kilogram of slaughter sheep rose by 7.0% (to 835 forints) and the quantity of their procurement went down by 8.0% (to 286 thousand heads) in 2019 compared to 2018.
Goat stock reduced
- The horse stock in Hungary was 52 thousand, within which the mare stock 27 thousand on 1 December 2019, both remaining practically unchanged compared to one year earlier.
- The goat stock was cut by 2 thousand over a year, their number came to 63 thousand on 1 December.
- The rabbit stock of 1.2 million increased by 32 thousand compared to a year earlier.
- The number of domestic slaughter pigeons was 176 thousand, which was down by 6.6% compared to 1 December 2018.
- The number of beehives was 849 thousand, 2.1% less than one year earlier.
Most exports of poultry meat and most imports of pork
More was imported than exported not only of live pigs but also of pork in January–November 2019. The most was exported of poultry meat (216 thousand tonnes), three times as much as the quantity imported.
Many factors may influence the consumption of different animal products. It may be affected by the range and quantity of available products, effective demand or different nutrition trends. All in all, the consumption of most of the products went up or lessened only slightly in 2017 compared to 2010. Significant decreases were merely measured in the consumption of offal as well as sheep, goat and other meat and animal fat. Animal fat consumption fell to 45% of the 2010 value. The largest growth was recorded in the consumption of processed products (canned meat, salami, dry sausage and ham as well as butter).
There was a rise in the consumption of all products – except for offal, other butcher's meat and butter – in 2018 compared to the previous year.
Hungary is 7th largest poultry meat producer in the European Union
Hungary has a major role in the production of poultry meat out of meat and meat products in the European Union. Following larger Member States, though lagging considerably behind Italy, Hungary was in the 7th place, with a share of 3.8%. The largest poultry meat producer in the EU was Poland, with 18% of the total EU production of 14 million tonnes.
The main beef producers in the European Union were France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The total production reached almost 7 million tonnes.
Veal production was of lesser significance, it had a value of around merely 1 million tonnes, however, it was concentrated in fewer countries. The largest producers were the Netherlands and Spain, furthermore, France and Italy. These four countries accounted for 79% of the EU production.
The largest weight was represented by pork production in the European Union. Germany and Spain stood out of producers (41% of the total production), overtaking France, Poland and Denmark.
Among the Member States of the European Union the most dairy cows were held in Germany, where milk production was the largest, too, in 2018. The more than 33 million tonnes of raw cow's milk made up 20% of the EU's production. Out of larger milk-producing countries, the quantity of milk produced by a cow was higher in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom and lower in Poland and Italy than the EU average.
The quantity of milk given by a cow was 8.2 tonnes in Hungary in 2018, which put Hungary in the 10th place among EU Member States.
The animal products of the highest value of production were the different types of cheese in the EU. These were followed by sausages, then pork, beef and chicken meat. The highest value of cheese was produced by France, that of sausages as well as pork by Germany, and the leading Member State in terms of the value of production of chicken meat and beef was the United Kingdom in the European Union in 2018.
Methodology
Sources of data:
In the case of private holdings: the representative agricultural survey implemented between 25 November and 15 December 2019. The questionnaires could be filled in electronically between 15 and 24 November. Filling in the questionnaire electronically was obligatory for key private holdings. The private holdings in a sample district which reached a special threshold of a holding in the 2016 farm structure survey (Agrárium 2016), furthermore, those whose e-mail address was known to us from information gathered in earlier surveys also had the opportunity for supplying data this way.
Methodology of sampling: the sample of the survey is based on the 2010 agricultural census (AC 2010) and Agrárium 2016. Out of the 13,633 agricultural survey districts in Hungary 648 were designated, which were fully observed by enumerators (house-to-house method). A questionnaire was filled in for all holdings surveyed in the June 2019 survey, irrespective of whether on 1 December they met the criterion of the concept of an agricultural holding. A questionnaire was filled in also for new holdings established in the preceding half-year.
An agricultural holding (holding) means a single unit, both technically and economically, which has a single management and which produces agricultural products and
- used at least
- 1,500 m2 of productive area (arable land, kitchen gardens, orchards, vineyards, grassland (meadows + pastures), forests, fish-ponds and reeds together), or
- 500 m2 of orchards and vineyards altogether (where the criterion of plantation size should also be met: at least 400 m2 of fruit trees area or at least 200 m2 of berries area or vineyards), or
- a total 500 m2 of arable land area for plantation-type crop production, or
- a total 100 m2 of land area under cover, or
- 50 m2 of basic area used for mushroom growing, or
- kept at least
- one head of bigger live animals (cattle, buffaloes, pigs, horses, sheep, goats, emus, ostriches, donkeys or mules), or
- 50 heads of poultry (chickens, geese, ducks, turkeys and guinea fowls altogether), or
- 25 heads of rabbits, or
- 25 heads of furry animals, or
- 25 heads of slaughter pigeons (carrier pigeons should not be taken into consideration!), or
- 5 beehives.
Thus a total of 103 thousand households, within which 21 thousand holdings were included in the sample, which was 5.0% of all private holdings.
Besides the above another group – of 'key' private holdings – was designated. They were selected according to the following criteria or thresholds: 150 cattle, 300 pigs, 25 horses, 500 sheep, 40 goats, 20,000 chickens, 5,000 geese, 10,000 ducks, 5,000 turkeys, 120 guinea fowls, 300 rabbits, 200 slaughter pigeons, 300 beehives, 50 ostriches, 10 emus, 200 furry animals, 250 hectares of arable land, 17 hectares of vineyards, 20 hectares of orchards, 100 hectares of forests or 150 hectares of grassland. The number of key private holdings selected upon completion of at least one of the criteria was 3,423.
Estimated data contain the figures of poultry, rabbit and beehive stocks of households not reaching the threshold of a holding.
In the data collection:
Agricultural enterprises: enterprises with or without legal personality.
Private holdings: households engaged in agricultural activities and private entrepreneurs with tax number.
Holdings: private holdings and agricultural enterprises.
Full-scale observation was applied in the case of agricultural enterprises keeping animals. This group supplied data compulsorily via the ELEKTRA system of HCSO.
Calculation of livestock size
Data on private holdings are estimated by sample estimation of means, by county and stratum. This completed with data on fully-observed key private holdings is equal to private holdings’ livestock. Data on private holdings and data on agricultural enterprises, coming from full-scale observation, together are equal to the livestock at national level.
Further data, information
Tables (STADAT)
2.2.3.6 Annual per capita quantity of food consumption, by income decile, region, and type of settlement (2010–)
4.1.2 Distribution of cattle stock by age, sex, and legal form of enterprise
4.1.3 Composition of pig stock by age and sex
4.1.27 Livestock, December (1995–)
6.4.1.4 Chicken, hen and cock stock
6.4.1.22 Cattle stock, 1 December (2000–)
6.4.1.23 Pig stock, 1 December (2000–)
6.4.1.24 Sheep stock, 1 December (2000–)
6.4.1.25 Chickens, hens and cocks, 1 December (2000–)
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