Brazil slaughtered 10.29 million head of cattle in the first quarter of the year.

Brazil slaughtered 10.29 million head of cattle under some type of sanitary inspection service (federal, state or municipal) in the first quarter of this year, according to the first reading from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), released this Tuesday (19). This volume represents an increase of 3.3% compared to the same period in 2025, but a decrease of 6.8% compared to the last quarter of last year. The production of beef carcasses, in turn, reached 2.63 million tons in the first three months of 2026, an annual increase of 5.1%, but a decrease of 10.2% compared to the figure recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Milk acquisition also increases compared to the previous year.

The acquisition of raw milk by establishments operating under some type of sanitary inspection totaled 6.78 billion liters between January and March, a volume 3.3% higher than that recorded in the same period last year, but a decrease of 7.9% compared to that obtained in the three months immediately preceding.

Leather purchases remain stable. 

The tanneries surveyed by the Quarterly Leather Survey – those that tan at least 5,000 whole units of raw bovine leather per year – reported receiving 10.76 million whole pieces of raw bovine leather in the first quarter of 2026. This quantity represents stability compared to that recorded in the first quarter of 2025, but a decrease of 3.3% compared to the fourth quarter of last year.

This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.