According to Defra, UK pork production between July and September was 6,900 tonnes higher than in the same period of 2025 and reached its highest third-quarter level since 2022.
At the same time, the pace of annual growth has been gradually slowing: production increased by 5.3% in the first quarter, 4.8% in the second and 2.8% in the third.
In the first nine months of 2026, UK producers supplied 754,000 tonnes of pork, 31,300 tonnes, or 4.3%, more than a year earlier.
In September, production totalled 84,100 tonnes, up 6.3% from August but 0.2% lower than in September 2025. This marked the first year-on-year decline in monthly production since August last year.
Sow and Boar Slaughter Rises 15.4%
In the third quarter, 2.64 million clean pigs were slaughtered in the UK, 2.3% more than a year earlier. Over the first nine months, slaughter reached 7.92 million head, 2.4% above the 2025 level.
At the same time, sow and boar slaughter increased much more sharply, reaching 56,000 head in the third quarter, up 15.4% year on year. This was the highest quarterly figure since the end of 2023.
Over the first nine months, slaughter in this category increased by 10.2%. AHDB notes that a sustained rise in culling could be an early sign of contraction in the breeding herd.
The average carcase weight of clean pigs in the third quarter was 89.9 kg, 2.1 kg lower than in the second quarter and only 0.1 kg higher than a year earlier. This means production growth was driven mainly by higher slaughter numbers rather than heavier animals.
According to AHDB, weaker domestic demand, particularly for processed pork, combined with lower pig prices and rising production costs, is already prompting some producers to reduce herd size or leave the sector.
AHDB expects this trend to continue in 2027 and gradually help rebalance supply and demand.
PigUA.info, based on materials from euromeatnews.com