According to Statista, the global beef industry was valued at $395.22 billion as of 2021. The industry is and projected to grow to $604.34 billion by 2029. In the same vein, the global dairy industry was valued at $827.4 billion in 2020 and is expected to hit $1,128 by 2026. In view of these valuations, it's obvious that cattle breeders/farmers are in for a windfall.
The huge opportunities inherent in cattle rearing have spurred our curiosity to find out which countries have the highest cattle population in Africa. We also examined which African countries have the highest beef production volumes.
To find out the answers, we relied on data made available by Statista. Interestingly, the data show that some of the countries that have the highest cattle population also produce the highest production volumes for cattle meat. See the stats below.
11 African countries with the highest cattle population
- Ethiopia: 70.3 million herds of cattle.
- Chad: 32.2 million herds of cattle.
- Sudan: 31.8 million herds of cattle
- Tanzania; 28.3 million herds of cattle
- Kenya: 21.7 million herds of cattle
- Nigeria; 20.7 million herds of cattle
- Niger:16.1 million herds of cattle
- Uganda: 15.5 million herds of cattle
- South Sudan: 13.8 million herds of cattle
- Mali: 12.5 million herds of cattle
- South Africa:12.3 million herds of cattle.
10 African countries with the highest beef production volumes
- South Africa: 1,038.7 metric tonnes of beef.
- Tanzania: 486.7 metric tonnes of beef.
- Chad: 472.9 metric tonnes of beef.
- Ethiopia: 433 metric tonnes of beef.
- Sudan: 389.4 metric tonnes of beef.
- Nigeria: 326.4 metric tonnes of beef.
- Egypt: 310.6 metric tonnes of beef.
- Morocco: 282 metric tonnes of beef.
- Kenya: 244.2 metric tonnes of beef.
- Zambia: 199 metric tonnes of beef.
