In the third quarter, meat production rose by 1.4 per cent while the producer value declined by 2.2 per cent when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2013, the NSO said.

Meat Production: Q3/2014

Meat production advanced by 1.4 per cent to 2,629 tonnes during the quarter under review. This was brought about by increases in the production of beef and pig-meat, of 6.6 and 2.0 per cent respectively. A marginal drop of 0.9 per cent was registered in the production of broiler meat.

The increase in the production of beef resulted from a 10.6 per cent rise in the number of slaughtered cattle. Pig-meat production went up by 2.0 per cent as a result of a 3.2 per cent rise in the average carcass weight, although the number of slaughtered pigs declined by 1.1 per cent.

Producer Value

During the period under review, the producer value of animals slaughtered at licensed slaughterhouses went down by €0.1 million (-2.2 per cent) to €5.8 million. This resulted from a decrease in the producer value of beef and broiler meat, of 8.8 and 7.8 per cent respectively. However, the producer value of pig-meat rose by 2.0 per cent