Number of dairy cows (Eurostat) (tag00014)
Number of dairy cows: data for 39 countries and regions, 2014-2025. Source: Eurostat, indicator tag00014. Compare countries, chart the series, or query it free as CSV, JSON, or API at https://autario.com/data/number-of-dairy-cows-eurostat.
446 rows · 12 columns · Time coverage: 2014 | 2025 · 39 regions/countries · Last data pull: 2026-10-16
This dataset captures the number of dairy cows across European nations and candidate countries, compiled by Eurostat from the European Commission. It serves as a key indicator of dairy production capacity, herd management trends, and agricultural policy outcomes across the continent. The data spans 39 entities with 446 observations covering the period from 2014 to 2025.
The European Union collectively maintained 19,085 thousand dairy cows as of 2025, making it by far the largest dairy herd in the dataset. Türkiye ranks second with 6,454 thousand head, followed by Germany with 3,597 thousand and France with 2,984 thousand. Smaller nations like Malta held only 5.51 thousand dairy cows, illustrating the vast range in production scale across the region.
Long-term trends reveal a modest contraction in EU dairy herds, declining at a compound annual rate of negative 1.13 percent from 2014 to 2025. Germany and France experienced steeper declines of negative 1.60 and negative 1.84 percent respectively over the same period, reflecting consolidation in larger operations and evolving production efficiency. In contrast, Türkiye's herd grew at 1.41 percent annually, suggesting expanding dairy production in that market.
Analysts, agricultural economists, and policy researchers use this dataset to monitor structural changes in European dairy farming, track compliance with EU regulations, and benchmark national competitiveness. The data supports decisions on trade policy, subsidy allocation, and investment in dairy infrastructure across member states and candidate countries.
Number of dairy cows (Eurostat) by country, latest reported year
Highest: Germany at 3,596.63 Thousand heads (animals) (2025). Lowest: Malta at 5.51 Thousand heads (animals) (2025). Ranked across 36 countries with a reported value, each in its own reporting year between 2019 and 2025.
Each row shows the most recent reported year for that country, so years can differ between rows. Source: Eurostat, indicator tag00014.
| Rank | Country | Value (Thousand heads (animals)) | Year |
|---|
| 1 | Germany | 3,596.63 | 2025 |
| 2 | France | 2,984.21 | 2025 |
| 3 | Poland | 1,945.86 | 2025 |
| 4 | United Kingdom | 1,867 | 2019 |
| 5 | Italy | 1,701.78 | 2025 |
| 6 | Netherlands | 1,518.11 | 2025 |
| 7 | Ireland | 1,490.37 | 2025 |
| 8 | Romania | 1,053.8 | 2025 |
| 9 | Ukraine | 956.5 | 2025 |
| 10 | Spain | 761.27 | 2025 |
| 11 | Denmark | 548.21 | 2025 |
| 12 | Austria | 536.22 | 2025 |
| 13 | Belgium | 522.55 | 2025 |
| 14 | Switzerland | 521.79 | 2025 |
| 15 | Czechia | 342.54 | 2025 |
| 16 | Serbia | 298.26 | 2025 |
| 17 | Sweden | 294.26 | 2025 |
| 18 | Hungary | 267.2 | 2025 |
| 19 | Finland | 224.9 | 2025 |
| 20 | Albania | 224.81 | 2025 |
| 21 | Portugal | 211.24 | 2025 |
| 22 | Lithuania | 198.46 | 2025 |
| 23 | Bulgaria | 184.58 | 2025 |
| 24 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 147.47 | 2023 |
| 25 | Latvia | 111.6 | 2025 |
Showing the top 25 of 36 countries with a reported value. Full table as CSV or JSON at https://autario.com/data/number-of-dairy-cows-eurostat.
Aggregates reported in the same series
Regions and country groups published by Eurostat alongside the countries. They are not part of the country ranking above.
| Aggregate | Value (Thousand heads (animals)) | Year |
|---|
| European Union | 19,015.37 | 2025 |
Use this data
Take Number of dairy cows (Eurostat) beyond this page: ask an AI assistant about it, chart it in a data app, or set it next to the numbers from your own accounts.
Query via API instead of re-downloading. Live REST API and instant in-browser charts stay source-synced with the primary publisher, no CSV exports to maintain, MCP-ready for Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor. Use this dataset in Power BI or Excel via the public API, no key required.
Indicator code: tag00014 · direct CSV, JSON, and live API access below.
Show API + MCP usage examples
# Get data (JSON)
curl "https://autario.com/api/v1/public/datasets/a74d789d-d91f-4e4b-b177-e70979f34dc9/data?limit=100"
# Filter and sort on this dataset's own columns (replace the bracketed placeholder with a value)
curl "https://autario.com/api/v1/public/datasets/a74d789d-d91f-4e4b-b177-e70979f34dc9/data?filter=geo:eq:<geo>&filter=time:gte:<time>&sort=time:desc"
# CSV export (login required)
curl "https://autario.com/api/v1/public/datasets/a74d789d-d91f-4e4b-b177-e70979f34dc9/export"
# Python
import requests
r = requests.get("https://autario.com/api/v1/public/datasets/a74d789d-d91f-4e4b-b177-e70979f34dc9/data", params={"limit": 100})
data = r.json()["data"]
Full API docs · Agent guide · MCP setup for Claude / ChatGPT / Cursor · No API key required for public data.
For AI agents
Statistics for this dataset are precomputed server-side. One call returns finished, verified numbers with provenance. No row download, no local computation:
# Finished stats, zero rows (n, min, max, avg, first/last)
curl "https://autario.com/api/v1/public/datasets/a74d789d-d91f-4e4b-b177-e70979f34dc9/data?summary_only=true"
# Summary statistics (mean/median/std/quartiles/skew)
curl "https://autario.com/api/v1/public/ontology/stats/describe?indicator=eu_number_of_dairy_cows_eurostat_a74d78&entity=European%20Union%20-%2027%20countries%20(from%202020)"
# Growth: latest period-over-period change
curl "https://autario.com/api/v1/public/ontology/stats/pct-change?indicator=eu_number_of_dairy_cows_eurostat_a74d78&entity=European%20Union%20-%2027%20countries%20(from%202020)"
# Smoothed trend: 5-period rolling mean
curl "https://autario.com/api/v1/public/ontology/stats/rolling?indicator=eu_number_of_dairy_cows_eurostat_a74d78&entity=European%20Union%20-%2027%20countries%20(from%202020)&window=5"
# Correlate with any other indicator (ids via /api/v1/public/ontology/indicators)
curl "https://autario.com/api/v1/public/ontology/stats/correlate?entity=European%20Union%20-%2027%20countries%20(from%202020)&a=eu_number_of_dairy_cows_eurostat_a74d78&b=<indicator_id>"
The same operations are MCP tools (describe, pct_change, rolling_stats, correlate) via npx autario-mcp or the remote endpoint https://autario.com/mcp. MCP responses default to TOON format and use about 74% fewer tokens than pretty JSON. Details: agent guide and llms.txt.
Original source: Eurostat (source code: tag00014)
Sample rows
| geo | time | month | value | animals | freq |
|---|
| European Union - 27 countries (from 2020) | 2014 | November - December | 21637.82 | Dairy cows | Annual |
| European Union - 27 countries (from 2020) | 2015 | November - December | 21651.74 | Dairy cows | Annual |
| European Union - 27 countries (from 2020) | 2016 | November - December | 21633.77 | Dairy cows | Annual |
| European Union - 27 countries (from 2020) | 2017 | November - December | 21409.14 | Dairy cows | Annual |
| European Union - 27 countries (from 2020) | 2018 | November - December | 21029.46 | Dairy cows | Annual |
| European Union - 27 countries (from 2020) | 2019 | November - December | 20765.52 | Dairy cows | Annual |
| European Union - 27 countries (from 2020) | 2020 | November - December | 20522.06 | Dairy cows | Annual |
| European Union - 27 countries (from 2020) | 2021 | November - December | 20212.53 | Dairy cows | Annual |
| European Union - 27 countries (from 2020) | 2022 | November - December | 20073.77 | Dairy cows | Annual |
| European Union - 27 countries (from 2020) | 2023 | November - December | 19911.96 | Dairy cows | Annual |
Related datasets
Keywords: tag00014, EU, Europe
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