The livestock farming market in France

Milk is the leading livestock sector in France: €13.3 billion in 2025, according to Eurostat. It is followed by cattle (€11.7 billion, up 19% in a year), poultry (€3.7 billion), pigs (€3.66 billion, down from €4.04 billion in 2024), eggs (€3.4 billion, up by a third) and sheep and goats (€1.1 billion). The 2025 increase comes mainly from cattle, milk and eggs.

According to Eurostat, France has 16.2 million cattle in May-June 2026, against 17.0 million three years earlier, including 2.93 million dairy cows. The pig herd reaches 11.5 million head on the same date. According to La Gazette des communes (February 2026), French livestock farming also counts 6.6 million sheep in 2024, down 7.8% over ten years, and just over 1.3 million goats. Brittany holds 55.3% of the pigs.

According to La Gazette des communes (February 2026), the number of livestock farms in France is falling by 3.5% a year: for every two farmers who start out, three retire, and half of the 2020 farmers will have stopped by 2030. Challenges (December 2025) reports that cattle farms, dairy and beef, fell from about 180,000 in 2013 to fewer than 120,000 in 2025. Generational renewal is becoming the sector’s main question in France.

Yes: France is a major exporter of live cattle. According to Eurostat (Comext), these exports reach €2.38 billion in 2025, after €1.74 billion in 2024, for about 432,000 tonnes, while French imports of live cattle do not exceed €27 million. The 36% rise in value, at almost stable volume, reflects a sharp rise in the price of the animals sold, calculated from Eurostat.

The lumpy skin disease (DNC) epizootic, which appeared in June, led to the culling of entire herds and to no cattle at all at the 2026 Salon international de l’agriculture (the French international agricultural show), a first, according to Challenges (January 2026). The vaccine costs €1.40 per animal, but general vaccination was initially ruled out to protect exports. The trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, signed on 17 January 2026, also worries cattle and poultry farming in France.

A PDF report in French, 2026 edition, organised in six chapters: livestock farming and its sectors, market size and dynamics, demand and outlets, farmers and players, regulation and health risks, and outlook.

Eurostat’s economic accounts for agriculture and livestock statistics, foreign trade customs data, and trade press articles from the IndexPresse database. Every figure comes with its source and period.

Yes. The study is updated before it is sent, within 48 hours at most: it includes the latest published data, and every figure comes with its source and period.

Farmers and people planning to set up, cooperatives and producer organisations, suppliers of animal feed, genetics, equipment and veterinary services, local authorities, and the bankers, consultants and investors who follow livestock farming in France.

By email, as a PDF, within 48 hours of payment. Our analysts use that time to add the latest available data before sending. You then find it in your My studies area.

A search engine or a general-purpose AI relies on the public web. Our analysts also work with the IndexPresse professional press database, built over more than 35 years, check the original sources and state the period and scope of every figure. You get a structured document you can cite in a business plan or a bank file.

An invoice with VAT is emailed after every payment, and you can enter your company VAT number. For a quote, a purchase order or a bank transfer, contact us.

If the report does not match the contents shown on this page, we redo it or refund you, as our terms of sale provide. Before buying, you can browse the free preview and ask the team your questions.

Yes: the pack of 5 studies costs €370 excl. VAT, that is €74 per study instead of €99. You pick your studies freely for 12 months.