Brazil slaughtered 11.04 million head of cattle under some type of sanitary inspection service in the fourth quarter of last year, according to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).IBGE), released this Wednesday (18). The volume is 14.0% higher than that recorded in the same period of 2024, but 2.7% lower compared to the three months immediately preceding. This total was the second highest result in the historical series, surpassed only by the record registered in the 3rd quarter of 2025 (11.34 million head). The participation of females was 41.7% in the total number of cattle slaughtered in the 4th quarter of 2025, equivalent to 4.61 million animals, an increase of 19.4% compared to the same period of 2024. "It is observed that there was a marked recovery in the slaughter of males in the last two quarters of last year to the detriment of the slaughter of females, which had managed to be higher than the slaughter of males in the 2nd quarter of 2025, for the first time in the historical series," says IBGE. The slaughter of heifers – females under 2 years old – accounted for 32.3% of the total number of female animals, equivalent to 1.49 million head. Cattle slaughter in the last three months of last year generated 2.93 million tons of carcasses, a 15.9% increase year-on-year, but a 1.5% decrease compared to the amount obtained in the immediately preceding quarter. The average weight of bovine carcasses was 265.76 kg during the period, a positive variation of 1.7% compared to the equivalent quarter of 2024 and 1.2% compared to the quarter from July to September 2025.
Cumulative total for 2025
In 2025, the total number of cattle slaughtered in Brazil reached 42.94 million head, an increase of 8.2% compared to the previous year, marking the fourth consecutive year of growth. This is also the highest result ever recorded in the survey, surpassing the figure registered in 2024 (39.69 million head), which was previously the highest value in the series. The share of females in the total slaughtered increased from 42.9% in 2024 to 46.8% in 2025, equivalent to 20.11 million head (+18.2%), comprising 13.55 million cows and 6.56 million heifers. The slaughter of steers – males aged 2 years or older – totaled 20.98 million animals last year, while the slaughter of heifers was 1.85 million units, indicating a negative variation of 0.5% and a positive variation of 16.9%, respectively, compared to the data for 2024. Beef carcass production totaled 11.10 million tons in 2025, an amount 7.2% higher than that recorded in 2024 and the highest in the historical series. On the other hand, the average weight of beef carcasses was 258.52 kg in 2025, 2.40 kg lower than the average weight of the previous year.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.