Livestock slaughtering statistics represents the end of the cattle production process and the beginning of the meat processing. Brazilian beef is produced under three different levels of meat inspection: federal, state and municipal, each of them suiting specific markets.
Analyzing livestock slaughter numbers enables us to understand the importance and efficacy of regional cattle production systems, the amounts produced and the availability of meat and by-products for the internal and external markets, among other possible aspects. These data come from the National Slaughter Survey from the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), which is published every three months and refers to establishments under the three inspection levels in all states. The list of establishments surveyed is constantly updated with information from the Brazilian Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply Ministry and the State and Municipal Agriculture Secretariats.
Please note: in states where there are less than 3 processing plants providing information for this survey, the IBGE does not specify the amounts slaughtered by animal type (ox, cow, steer & heifer), therefore there might be a difference between the total numbers of national slaughters in relation to the partial numbers of animals slaughtered per inspection level that comprise the total numbers.