As of June 1, 2026, 1 million 786.9 thousand cattle were kept in Ukraine, including 941.2 thousand cows, the Association of Milk Producers reported on June 26 with reference to previous data of the State Statistics Service.
Compared to June 1, 2025, the number of cattle decreased by 383 thousand heads, or
by 18%, and the number of cows - by 208 thousand, also by 18%. Over the month, the total cattle herd increased slightly - by 2.1 thousand heads, while the number of cows decreased by 3.3 thousand. About 53% of the herd is kept by agricultural enterprises, the remaining 47% by households. In the industrial sector at the beginning of June, there were 951.2 thousand heads. Livestock, in particular
391.9 thousand cows. During the year, enterprises increased the number of cattle by 4%, and
the number of cows - by 3%.
At the same time, 835,700 cattle remained in households, of which
549,300 were cows. During the year, the private sector lost 33% of cattle and 28% of cows. The reduction of livestock keeping by households remains the
main reason for the overall decline in indicators in the country.
The increase in the number of cows in agricultural enterprises was recorded in
11 regions. Livestock increased the most in Rivne region - by 29%,
Lviv region - by 22%, Kharkiv region - by 13%, Ternopil region - by 11% and
Khmelnytskyi region - by 9%. In the Kyiv region, the number of cows in the industrial
sector increased by 3%.
Poltava region - 168,000 heads, Vinnytsia - 160,000, Khmelnytsky - 143,400,
Odesa - 131,600, Chernihiv - 126.1 thousand, Cherkasy - 125.4 thousand and
Kyiv - 105.7 thousand heads. These seven regions accounted for about 54%
of the country's total herd.
The Association of Milk Producers associates the herd reduction with the low
purchasing price of milk, the increase in the price of fodder, fuel and fertilizers,
insufficient modernization of farms and the consequences of hostilities. Enterprises in
frontline regions are also forced to transport livestock to central and western
regions.
According to the association's assessment, about 850 out of 1,375,000 Ukrainian dairy farms
need reconstruction to meet European animal husbandry standards. The estimated need for investments is estimated at approximately EUR219 million.
At the beginning of 1991, there were 24 million 623.4 thousand cattle in Ukraine, including 8 million 378.2 thousand cows. By the beginning of 2001, the number of cattle decreased to 9.424 million heads, and cows - to approximately 4.958 million. In 2013, there were 4.646 million cattle and 2.554 million cows in Ukraine. At
the beginning of 2021, the indicators amounted to 2.874 million and 1.673 million heads, respectively.
On January 1, 2025, the population of VRX was estimated at 2.002 million heads, in particular cows
at 1.155 million. At the beginning of 2026, the indicators decreased to 1.804 million cattle
and 1.022 million cows.
Thus, from the beginning of 1991 to the beginning of 2026, the total number of cattle
in Ukraine decreased by approximately 92.7%, or 13.6
times. The number of cows decreased by 87.8%, or by 8.2 times.
By June 1, 2026, the number of cows dropped below 1 million heads for the first time -
to 941.2 thousand. Compared to 1991, this means a reduction of almost 89%, or by
8.9 times.
When comparing long-term indicators, the change should be taken into account statistical coverage. Data for 2015-2021 do not include temporarily occupied Crimea,
Sevastopol and part of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, and indicators from 2022
also do not cover other occupied territories and part of areas of hostilities.
Despite a sharp overall reduction in livestock, industrial dairy farms in
relatively safe regions partially increase the number of productive cows.
However. this is still not enough to compensate for the mass exit from livestock
of private peasant farms.
