How many cattle are in the world? The global live cattle population amounted to about 1.57 billion heads in 2023, up from approximately 1.51 million in 2021. Cows as livestock The domestication of cattle began as early as 10,000 to 5,000 years ago. From ancient times up to the present, cattle are bred to provide meat and dairy. Cattle are also employed as draft animals to plow the fields or transport heavy objects. Cattle hide is used for the production of leather, and dung for fuel and agricultural fertilizer. In 2022, India was home to the highest number of milk cows in the world. Cattle farming in the United States Cattle meat such as beef and veal is one of the most widely consumed types of meat across the globe, and is particularly popular in the United States. The United States is the top producer of beef and veal of any country worldwide. In 2021, beef production in the United States reached 12.6 million metric tons. Beef production appears to be following a positive trend in the United States. More than 33.07 million cattle were slaughtered both commercially and in farms annually in the United States in 2019, up from 33 million in the previous year.

India's cattle inventory amounted to about *** million in 2023. In comparison, the global cattle population stood at over ***********, India had the highest cattle population followed by Brazil, China and the United States that year. Where are cattle bred in India? As one of the leading dairy producers and consumers worldwide, cattle in the south Asian country were bred mainly in the rural areas. However, its population was spread unevenly across the vast land. Uttar Pradesh ranked first in terms of milk production, followed by Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh in 2023. Contextualizing the holiness of the Indian cow Considered a sacred animal by Hindus in India, the cow is associated with several gods and goddesses. This deep religious and cultural significance has led to communal tensions. In 2014, the government established the Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM) to conserve and develop indigenous breeds of cows and buffaloes. While the general goal was well-received, it aligns with the underlying Hindu nationalist narrative of the current government.

Denmark - Number of dairy cows was 542.78 Thousand in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Denmark - Number of dairy cows - last updated from the EUROSTAT on August of 2025. Historically, Denmark - Number of dairy cows reached a record high of 579.00 Thousand in December of 2012 and a record low of 542.78 Thousand in December of 2024.

Number of cattle, by class and farm type, Canada and provinces (head x 1,000). Data are available on an annual basis.

Greece - Number of dairy cows was 79.50 Thousand in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Greece - Number of dairy cows - last updated from the EUROSTAT on July of 2025. Historically, Greece - Number of dairy cows reached a record high of 144.00 Thousand in December of 2010 and a record low of 79.50 Thousand in December of 2024.

How many cows are in the U.S.? The United States is home to approximately **** million cattle and calves as of 2024, dropping slightly from the 2023 value. Cattle farming in the United States There are over ***** times more beef cows than milk cows living in the United States. Raising cattle is notoriously expensive, not only in terms of land, feed, and equipment, but also in terms of the environmental impact of consuming beef. Beef and milk have the highest carbon footprints of any type of food in the United States. U.S. milk market The volume of milk produced in the United States has been steadily increasing over the last several years. In 2023, total milk production in the U.S. was about ***** billion pounds, up from ***** billion pounds in 2010. ********** is the leading producer of milk of any U.S. state, generating approximately ** billion pounds of milk in 2022. Wisconsin came in second, producing about **** billion pounds of milk in that year.

Netherlands - Number of dairy cows was 1527.00 Thousand in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Netherlands - Number of dairy cows - last updated from the EUROSTAT on August of 2025. Historically, Netherlands - Number of dairy cows reached a record high of 1794.00 Thousand in December of 2016 and a record low of 1504.00 Thousand in December of 2011.

China Livestock: Number: Cow: Beef Cattle data was reported at 84,541.000 Unit th in 2022. This records an increase from the previous number of 80,044.000 Unit th for 2021. China Livestock: Number: Cow: Beef Cattle data is updated yearly, averaging 68,386.000 Unit th from Dec 2008 (Median) to 2022, with 15 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 84,541.000 Unit th in 2022 and a record low of 52,533.000 Unit th in 2008. China Livestock: Number: Cow: Beef Cattle data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Agriculture Sector – Table CN.RID: Number of Livestock: Large Animals: Cow .

Austria - Number of dairy cows was 535.81 Thousand in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Austria - Number of dairy cows - last updated from the EUROSTAT on August of 2025. Historically, Austria - Number of dairy cows reached a record high of 550.55 Thousand in December of 2022 and a record low of 523.37 Thousand in December of 2012.

Livestock: Number: Beef Cattle: Tibet data was reported at 5,555.000 Unit th in 2022. This records an increase from the previous number of 5,447.000 Unit th for 2021. Livestock: Number: Beef Cattle: Tibet data is updated yearly, averaging 4,713.000 Unit th from Dec 2008 (Median) to 2022, with 15 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 5,555.000 Unit th in 2022 and a record low of 4,513.000 Unit th in 2012. Livestock: Number: Beef Cattle: Tibet data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Agriculture Sector – Table CN.RID: Number of Livestock: Large Animals: Cow .

Bulgaria - Number of dairy cows was 189.59 Thousand in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Bulgaria - Number of dairy cows - last updated from the EUROSTAT on August of 2025. Historically, Bulgaria - Number of dairy cows reached a record high of 313.61 Thousand in December of 2010 and a record low of 189.59 Thousand in December of 2024.

China Livestock: Number: Cow: Dairy Cow data was reported at 11,601.000 Unit th in 2022. This records an increase from the previous number of 10,943.000 Unit th for 2021. China Livestock: Number: Cow: Dairy Cow data is updated yearly, averaging 12,603.000 Unit th from Dec 2008 (Median) to 2022, with 15 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 15,072.000 Unit th in 2015 and a record low of 10,377.000 Unit th in 2018. China Livestock: Number: Cow: Dairy Cow data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under China Premium Database’s Agriculture Sector – Table CN.RID: Number of Livestock: Large Animals: Cow .

Germany - Number of dairy cows was 3589.43 Thousand in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Germany - Number of dairy cows - last updated from the EUROSTAT on August of 2025. Historically, Germany - Number of dairy cows reached a record high of 4295.68 Thousand in December of 2014 and a record low of 3589.43 Thousand in December of 2024.

Sweden - Number of dairy cows was 288.87 Thousand in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Sweden - Number of dairy cows - last updated from the EUROSTAT on August of 2025. Historically, Sweden - Number of dairy cows reached a record high of 348.56 Thousand in December of 2010 and a record low of 288.87 Thousand in December of 2024.

This graph shows the total number of bovine population in France from 1995 to 2023, by type of cattle, in thousand heads. This shows that total herd exceeded 20 million cattle in 1995, including about 4.7 million suckler cows. In 2023, the number of French cattle cows had decreased to about 17.04 million heads.

The Census of Agriculture, produced by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), provides a complete count of America's farms, ranches and the people who grow our food. The census is conducted every five years, most recently in 2022, and provides an in-depth look at the agricultural industry. This layer was produced from data obtained from the USDA National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) Large Datasets download page. The data were transformed and prepared for publishing using the Pivot Table geoprocessing tool in ArcGIS Pro and joined to county boundaries. The county boundaries are 2022 vintage and come from Living Atlas ACS 2022 feature layers.Dataset SummaryPhenomenon Mapped: Cattle productionGeographic Extent: 48 contiguous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto RicoProjection: Web Mercator Auxiliary SphereSource: USDA National Agricultural Statistics ServiceUpdate Frequency: 5 yearsData Vintage: 2022Publication Date: April 2024AttributesNote that some values are suppressed as "Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations", "Not applicable", or "Less than half the rounding unit". These have been coded in the data as -999, -888, and -777 respectively. You should account for these values when symbolizing or doing any calculations.Many cattle production commodity fields are broken out into 6 or 7 ranges based on the number of head of cattle. For space reasons, a general sample of the fields is listed here.Commodities included in this layer: Cattle, (Excl Cows) - Inventory - Inventory of Cattle, (Excl Cows): (By number of head)Cattle, (Excl Cows) - InventoryCattle, (Excl Cows) - Operations with Inventory - Inventory of Cattle, (Excl Cows): (By number of head)Cattle, (Excl Cows) - Operations with InventoryCattle, Calves - Operations with Sales - Sales of Calves: (By number of head)Cattle, Calves - Operations with SalesCattle, Calves - Sales, Measured in Head - Sales of Calves: (By number of head)Cattle, Calves - Sales, Measured in HeadCattle, Calves, Veal, Raised or Sold - Number of OperationsCattle, Cows - Inventory; Cattle, Cows - Operations with InventoryCattle, Cows, Beef - Inventory - Inventory of Beef Cows: (By number of head)Cattle, Cows, Beef - InventoryCattle, Cows, Beef - Operations with Inventory - Inventory of Beef Cows: (By number of head)Cattle, Cows, Beef - Operations with InventoryCattle, Cows, Milk - Inventory - Inventory of Milk Cows: (By number of head)Cattle, Cows, Milk - InventoryCattle, Cows, Milk - Operations with Inventory - Inventory of Milk Cows: (By number of head)Cattle, Cows, Milk - Operations with InventoryCattle, >= 500 lbs - Operations with Sales - Sales of Cattle >= 500 lbs: (By number of head)Cattle, >= 500 lbs - Operations with SalesCattle, >= 500 lbs - Sales, Measured in Head - Sales of Cattle >= 500 lbs: (By number of head)Cattle, >= 500 lbs - Sales, Measured in HeadCattle, Heifers, >= 500 lbs, Milk Replacement, Production Contract - Operations with ProductionCattle, Heifers, >= 500 lbs, Milk Replacement, Production Contract - Production, Measured in HeadCattle, Incl Calves - Inventory - Inventory of Cattle, Incl Calves: (By number of head)Cattle, Incl Calves - InventoryCattle, Incl Calves - Operations with Inventory - Inventory of Cattle, Incl Calves: (By number of head)Cattle, Incl Calves - Operations with InventoryCattle, Incl Calves - Operations with Sales - Sales of Cattle, Incl Calves: (By number of head)Cattle, Incl Calves - Operations with SalesCattle, Incl Calves - Sales, Measured in US Dollars ($)Cattle, Incl Calves - Sales, Measured in Head - Sales of Cattle, Incl Calves: (By number of head)Cattle, Incl Calves - Sales, Measured in HeadCattle, On Feed - Inventory - Inventory of Cattle On Feed: (By number of head)Cattle, On Feed - InventoryCattle, On Feed - Operations with Inventory - Inventory of Cattle On Feed: (By number of head)Cattle, On Feed - Operations with InventoryCattle, On Feed - Operations with Sales For Slaughter - Sales of Cattle On Feed: (By number of head)Cattle, On Feed - Operations with Sales For SlaughterCattle, On Feed - Sales For Slaughter, Measured in Head - Sales of Cattle On Feed: (By number of head)Cattle, On Feed - Sales For Slaughter, Measured in HeadCattle, Production Contract, On Feed - Operations with ProductionCattle, Production Contract, On Feed - Production, Measured in HeadGeography NoteIn Alaska, one or more county-equivalent entities (borough, census area, city, municipality) are included in an agriculture census area.What can you do with this layer?This layer is designed for data visualization. Identify features by clicking on the map to reveal the pre-configured pop-up. You may change the field(s) being symbolized. When symbolizing other fields, you will need to update the popup accordingly. Simple summary statistics are supported by this data.Questions?Please leave a comment below if you have a question about this layer, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Lithuania - Number of dairy cows was 200.87 Thousand in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Lithuania - Number of dairy cows - last updated from the EUROSTAT on August of 2025. Historically, Lithuania - Number of dairy cows reached a record high of 359.80 Thousand in December of 2010 and a record low of 200.87 Thousand in December of 2024.

Belgium - Number of dairy cows was 518.36 Thousand in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Belgium - Number of dairy cows - last updated from the EUROSTAT on July of 2025. Historically, Belgium - Number of dairy cows reached a record high of 543.68 Thousand in December of 2022 and a record low of 503.54 Thousand in December of 2012.

In 2024, there were around 3.7 million dairy cows in Germany. This represents a small decline since 2022. However, in 1950 there were 5.73 million dairy cows. The timeline shows the dairy cow population in Germany from 1950 to 2023.

Latvia - Number of dairy cows was 113.04 Thousand in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Latvia - Number of dairy cows - last updated from the EUROSTAT on July of 2025. Historically, Latvia - Number of dairy cows reached a record high of 165.87 Thousand in December of 2014 and a record low of 113.04 Thousand in December of 2024.