Pigs are the latest victims of Germany’s energy crisis, says report

Pig herds in Germany have shrunk to a record low as producers grapple with rising input costs, adding to the list of German industries hurt by the energy crisis.

Pig stocks and the number of pig farms have fallen “due to the persistently difficult economic situation”, Germany’s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said in a press release last Wednesday (21), adding that an increase sharp rise in energy, fertilizer and feed costs drove higher production costs.

The country registered 21.3 million hogs on Nov. 3, down more than 10% year-on-year and down nearly 20% from 2020, reaching an all-time low, according to Destatis.

Germany has also lost 1,900 pig farms this year, after a drop of 1,600 farms between 2020 and 2021.

In October — the latest month for which data is available — production costs for all meat rose nearly 47% over the same period last year, data from Destatis shows.

The data deals another blow to German industry, which has struggled with surges in energy prices over the past year triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February.

Many producers in energy-intensive sectors, including chemicals, glass and metals, have cut production, while some are laying off staff and relocating parts of their operations overseas to cope.

Up to 2 million workers in Germany could be furloughed next spring as their employers grapple with high energy prices and a possible gas shortage, Marc Schattenberg, senior economist at Deutsche Bank Research, told CNN in October.

For pig farms, energy costs are not the only issue. An outbreak of the African swine fever virus in eastern Germany, combined with a drop in exports to China – due to its strict Covid-zero policy, which was only lifted earlier this month – has also caused headaches for producers, according to the German meat industry association.