German meat production falls 0.4% as poultry output declines in first half of 2026
German commercial slaughterhouses produced nearly 3.4 million tonnes of meat in the first half of 2026, down 0.4% year on year. Lower poultry output outweighed an increase in pork production, while beef volumes were almost unchanged.
Total output slips below the previous year's level
Germany's commercial slaughterhouses produced nearly 3.4 million tonnes of meat in the first half of 2026, according to preliminary data from the Federal Statistical Office reported by Lebensmittel Praxis. Output declined by 0.4% from the same period a year earlier, equivalent to a reduction of 14,700 tonnes.
During the six-month period, slaughterhouses processed 24.0 million pigs, cattle, sheep, goats and horses, alongside 343.2 million poultry birds. The overall decline was driven primarily by poultry meat, while pork production moved against the wider trend and beef output remained broadly stable.
Pork increases as foreign animal supply contracts
German plants slaughtered 22.2 million pigs in the first half, an increase of 0.5%, or 107,000 animals, from the previous-year period. Pork production rose by 10,300 tonnes to 2.2 million tonnes, reinforcing its position as the largest segment of the country's commercial meat industry.
Domestic animals accounted for 98.4% of all pigs slaughtered. The number of pigs originating abroad fell by 14.0% to 349,200. The figures indicate that the modest increase in pork output was supported overwhelmingly by Germany's domestic livestock base rather than by higher inflows of foreign animals.
Pork represented 63.7% of total commercial meat production. Its increase provided only a partial offset to the contraction in poultry, but it preserved the product's dominant role in slaughterhouse throughput and processing supply.
Poultry records the sharpest decline
Poultry meat production fell by 3.2%, or 24,900 tonnes, to around 755,000 tonnes. The number of poultry birds slaughtered declined by a smaller 0.8%, suggesting that the reduction in meat volume was proportionally greater than the drop in bird numbers. Poultry retained a 22.3% share of total output despite the decline.
Beef production decreased by only 0.1% to 462,200 tonnes. Slaughterhouses processed 1.4 million cattle, 1,900 fewer than in the comparable period. Beef accounted for 13.7% of commercial meat production, while meat from sheep, goats and horses represented about 0.3%. For processors and buyers, the first-half figures show a largely stable aggregate market with a clear divergence between rising pork availability and tighter poultry supply.
