Decrease in the national sheep flock for a second year in a row
This census report records the number of sheep and goats kept in Ireland on December 31, 2023, and is based on data submitted to the Department of Agriculture by April 26, 2024.
The number of sheep in the country has decreased by around 290,000, the 2023 census shows.Â
This is a 7% drop on the total numbers recorded in 2022.
The sheep census returns indicate that, in the state on December 31, 2023, there were 3.72m sheep kept on holdings.
This census report records the number of sheep and goats kept in Ireland on December 31, 2023, and is based on data submitted to the Department of Agriculture by April 26, 2024.
There were 2.56m breeding ewes over 12 months of age, which is a decrease of almost 100,000 (3.7%) on the previous year’s breeding ewe population.
A total of 82,756 breeding rams was recorded – a decrease of over 3,000 on the previous year.
1.08m other sheep were recorded (including lambs, wethers, cull ewes). This category also decreased by over 185,000 in 2023 (14.7%).
The number of registered holdings keeping sheep decreased by over 1,000 from 2022 - to 34,519.
Overall, the greatest number of sheep was kept in Co Donegal with a sheep population of 526,658. Co Limerick recorded the fewest number of sheep (18,437) – just 0.5% of the total population.
47.8% of the total population are classified as mountain / mountain cross breeds, while 52.2% of all sheep recorded were classified as lowland / lowland cross breeds.
The greatest number of mountain sheep was kept in Co Donegal with 313,070.
The smallest number of mountain sheep was recorded in Co Monaghan (833), with Co Clare keeping the smallest number of mountain cross breeds (2,329).Â
The greatest number of lowland (123,914) and lowland cross (148,444) breeds were in Co Galway.
The smallest number of lowland sheep was kept in Co Limerick (5,216), and the smallest number of lowland cross breeds (4,618).
Of the 34,519 flocks keeping sheep, the average flock size was 108 compared to an average flock size of 113 in 2022. A total of 69% of flocks (23,749) kept fewer than the national average of 108.
A total of 7,303 goats were recorded – a decrease of 21% (1,940 goats) on the December 2022 figure.
704 respondent keepers declared that they kept goats in December 2023, representing a decrease of just 30 from 2022.
A further 371 keepers declared that they had no goats at the time of the census and of those, 74 declared that they would not be re-entering goat farming.
With 150 herds, Co Cork had the greatest number of goat herds in 2023.
The greatest number of goats was kept in Co Tipperary where 708 goats were recorded, followed by Co Cork with 592.
Most domestic goats are kept in very small herds on a non-commercial basis. The average goat herd size is 10 (down from 13 in 2022) and of the herds that submitted a census return, 574 (82%) keep fewer than this figure.
