Sheep Population by Country

China remained the largest sheep holder despite losing 10,044,700 head, while India added 8,623,765 head. The figures below come from FAO Crops and Livestock Products records for item Sheep, 2020-2024, reporting stocks quantity in head. The table covers 180 countries, with 177 reporting a 2024 quantity. Their listed 2024 total is 1,361,991,574 head. The 2024 country list runs from the largest listed quantity to the smallest.

China reported 1.60 times as many as India: 182,939,000 head against 114,623,765, while Australia ranks third with 79,330,000 head, 35,293,765 head fewer than India. The top two hold 21.9 percent of the listed total, with third and fourth at 79,330,000 and 53,820,779 head respectively.

Sheep Population by Country

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#	Country	2024
1	China CN	182,939,000
2	India IN	114,623,765
3	Australia AU	79,330,000
4	Iran IR	53,820,779
5	Nigeria NG	52,136,324
6	Chad TD	45,168,961
7	Türkiye TR	44,080,584
8	Ethiopia ET	41,050,910
9	Sudan SD	40,705,303
10	Pakistan PK	32,731,000
11	Algeria DZ	32,354,831
12	United Kingdom GB	31,016,701
13	Kenya KE	26,214,927
14	Mongolia MN	24,491,124
15	Mali ML	24,483,549
16	New Zealand NZ	23,583,001
17	Saudi Arabia SA	22,428,136
18	Brazil BR	21,862,326
19	South Africa ZA	21,240,448
20	Uzbekistan UZ	21,028,100
21	Morocco MA	19,892,910
22	Russia RU	19,111,986
23	Kazakhstan KZ	18,546,044
24	Syria SY	17,928,586
25	Niger NE	15,669,056
26	Indonesia ID	15,137,290
27	South Sudan SS	14,353,872
28	Turkmenistan TM	14,270,745
29	Spain ES	13,476,030
30	Afghanistan AF	12,450,000
31	Argentina AR	12,440,906
32	Burkina Faso BF	11,543,571
33	Peru PE	11,278,083
34	Mauritania MR	11,208,099
35	Yemen YE	10,799,861
36	Romania RO	10,443,400
37	Tanzania TZ	9,505,944
38	Mexico MX	8,866,253
39	Senegal SN	8,726,635
40	Somalia SO	7,987,932
41	Greece GR	7,774,200
42	Libya LY	7,491,773
43	Bolivia BO	7,470,438
44	Azerbaijan AZ	7,041,901
45	Iraq IQ	6,672,540
46	France FR	6,607,000
47	Ghana GH	6,176,664
48	Tunisia TN	6,094,960
49	Uruguay UY	5,654,270
50	Kyrgyzstan KG	5,621,278
51	Italy IT	5,390,350
52	United States US	5,030,000
53	Uganda UG	4,373,676
54	Tajikistan TJ	4,283,000
55	Guinea GN	3,995,308
56	Bangladesh BD	3,903,000
57	Ireland IE	3,591,640
58	Cameroon CM	3,551,761
59	Jordan JO	3,076,021
60	Benin BJ	2,647,421
61	Ivory Coast CI	2,636,786
62	Eritrea ER	2,508,985
63	Portugal PT	2,142,450
64	Norway NO	2,128,600
65	United Arab Emirates AE	2,045,170
66	Togo TG	2,029,331
67	Egypt EG	1,950,000
68	Namibia NA	1,921,652
69	Lesotho LS	1,913,822
70	Serbia RS	1,759,424
71	Chile CL	1,750,000
72	Colombia CO	1,689,875
73	Germany DE	1,510,900
74	Cuba CU	1,357,728
75	Albania AL	1,176,523
76	Angola AO	1,140,494
77	Bosnia and Herzegovina BA	1,098,899
78	Bulgaria BG	1,016,700
79	Sierra Leone SL	934,780
80	Madagascar MG	925,907
81	DR Congo CD	920,510
82	Hungary HU	846,800
83	Canada CA	822,000
84	Qatar QA	804,695
85	Zimbabwe ZW	746,277
86	Kuwait KW	737,547
87	Georgia GE	712,400
88	Burundi BI	708,094
89	Armenia AM	690,565
90	Oman OM	681,650
91	Nepal NP	633,222
92	Venezuela VE	629,786
93	Guatemala GT	611,329
94	Netherlands NL	607,000
95	Croatia HR	553,000
96	Myanmar MM	540,000
97	North Macedonia MK	517,128
98	Ukraine UA	488,000
99	Guinea-Bissau GW	472,038
100	Djibouti DJ	470,538
101	Central African Republic CF	452,132
102	Ecuador EC	448,382
103	Malawi MW	436,701
104	Lebanon LB	430,853
105	Moldova MD	423,608
106	Israel IL	400,000
107	Austria AT	390,940
108	Switzerland CH	374,239
109	Paraguay PY	371,738
110	Cyprus CY	364,750
111	Iceland IS	345,440
112	Zambia ZM	330,243
113	Sweden SE	315,790
114	Haiti HT	311,123
115	Rwanda RW	288,916
116	Liberia LR	281,696
117	Slovakia SK	276,464
118	Poland PL	269,538
119	Dominican Republic DO	261,952
120	Mozambique MZ	229,764
121	Gabon GA	221,154
122	Gambia GM	190,879
123	Czech Republic CZ	180,368
124	North Korea KP	164,779
125	Botswana BW	148,744
126	Denmark DK	147,980
127	Montenegro ME	144,916
128	Malaysia MY	139,393
129	Guyana GY	132,162
130	Congo CG	125,957
131	Lithuania LT	124,410
132	Slovenia SI	116,825
133	Finland FI	115,432
134	Faroe Islands FO	79,941
135	Belarus BY	74,000
136	Latvia LV	69,640
137	Bahrain BH	63,000
138	Estonia EE	46,100
139	Equatorial Guinea GQ	41,686
140	Thailand TH	41,664
141	Fiji FJ	39,547
142	Timor-Leste TL	39,000
143	Philippines PH	30,000
144	Comoros KM	26,249
145	Cape Verde CV	19,701
146	Eswatini SZ	18,522
147	Sri Lanka LK	17,820
148	Honduras HN	16,971
149	Belize BZ	16,798
150	Trinidad and Tobago TT	15,471
151	Japan JP	15,151
152	Malta MT	14,560
153	Puerto Rico PR	12,791
154	Barbados BB	12,718
155	Saint Kitts and Nevis KN	10,993
156	Grenada GD	9,639
157	Luxembourg LU	9,635
158	Bhutan BT	9,176
159	Saint Lucia LC	9,146
160	Dominica DM	8,516
161	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines VC	8,496
162	Papua New Guinea PG	7,309
163	Suriname SR	6,626
164	Bahamas BS	6,590
165	El Salvador SV	5,577
166	Mauritius MU	5,050
167	Antigua and Barbuda AG	4,473
168	Brunei BN	4,356
169	Sao Tome and Principe ST	3,386
170	Costa Rica CR	2,896
171	New Caledonia NC	1753
172	South Korea KR	1391
173	Jamaica JM	1311
174	Vanuatu VU	1260
175	French Polynesia PF	441
176	Taiwan TW	155
177	Hong Kong HK	23
178	Belgium BE	-
179	Nicaragua NI	-
180	Palestine PS	-

Sheep Population by Country in 2024

China was the largest sheep holder in the 2024 listed data with 182,939,000 head, followed by India with 114,623,765 head and Australia with 79,330,000 head. Iran ranked fourth with 53,820,779 head.

China holds 13.4 percent of the listed 2024 total. The top three account for 27.7 percent of the 1,361,991,574-head listed total.

China Falls 10,044,700 Head as Sheep Stocks Grow 0.4 Percent

From 2023 to 2024 the common reporter universe (177 countries with data in both years) moved from 1,356,155,197 head to 1,361,991,574 head, a change of 5,836,377 head (0.4 percent). The totals listed for each year were 1,356,162,128 head (178 reporters) and 1,361,991,574 head (177 reporters); 1 country reporting in 2023 (6,931 head, Nicaragua) did not report in 2024, while no new reporters joined. China fell 10,044,700 head (down 5.2 percent), while India added 8,623,765 head (up 8.1 percent) and Australia 7,267,461 head (up 10.1 percent).

India Adds 28,683,765 Head as Sheep Stocks Grow 5.9 Percent Among Common Reporters Since 2020

Between 2020 and 2024, the common reporter universe (176 countries with data in both years) rose from 1,286,523,496 head to 1,361,990,314 head, a change of 75,466,818 head (5.9 percent). The totals listed for each year were 1,287,296,790 head (178 reporters) and 1,361,991,574 head (177 reporters); 2 reporters present in 2020 (Palestine, 766,550 head, and Nicaragua, 6,744 head) are absent in 2024, while 1 new reporter added 1,260 head (Vanuatu). India added 28,683,765 head (up 33.4 percent) and Australia 15,800,634 head (up 24.9 percent), while China added 9,843,700 head (up 5.7 percent).

Sheep Population by Country

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#	Country	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
1	China	173,095,300	186,376,800	194,030,100	192,983,700	182,939,000
2	India	85,940,000	91,400,000	96,846,000	106,000,000	114,623,765
3	Australia	63,529,366	68,047,402	70,234,655	72,062,539	79,330,000
4	Iran	46,587,010	53,868,000	55,582,000	55,202,107	53,820,779
5	Nigeria	47,926,393	49,124,553	50,305,129	51,214,020	52,136,324
6	Chad	38,705,279	41,771,929	45,081,553	48,653,400	45,168,961
7	Türkiye	42,126,781	45,177,690	44,687,888	42,060,470	44,080,584
8	Ethiopia	42,914,865	40,663,456	38,013,272	37,232,386	41,050,910
9	Sudan	40,946,061	40,501,633	39,800,000	39,983,729	40,705,303
10	Pakistan	31,225,000	31,595,000	31,969,000	32,347,000	32,731,000
11	Algeria	30,905,560	31,126,445	31,542,575	31,829,369	32,354,831
12	United Kingdom	32,697,000	32,957,000	33,173,748	31,802,536	31,016,701
13	Kenya	25,345,927	24,801,605	21,333,288	23,208,541	26,214,927
14	Mongolia	30,049,428	31,086,963	32,747,682	29,409,352	24,491,124
15	Mali	20,142,677	21,149,809	22,207,300	23,317,665	24,483,549
16	New Zealand	26,028,935	25,732,889	25,132,697	24,359,267	23,583,001
17	Saudi Arabia	17,500,000	17,535,421	21,804,724	21,999,998	22,428,136
18	Brazil	20,623,064	20,544,899	21,520,872	21,799,960	21,862,326
19	South Africa	21,604,708	21,464,621	21,432,364	21,425,621	21,240,448
20	Uzbekistan	18,829,200	19,327,100	19,938,000	20,533,600	21,028,100
21	Morocco	22,088,800	22,726,481	21,628,277	20,660,585	19,892,910
22	Russia	20,654,963	19,785,390	19,148,212	19,083,000	19,111,986
23	Kazakhstan	16,693,000	16,979,000	16,959,015	16,961,692	18,546,044
24	Syria	16,073,088	16,783,185	17,847,163	18,569,178	17,928,586
25	Niger	13,654,678	14,132,592	14,627,232	15,139,185	15,669,056
26	Indonesia	17,523,689	15,636,251	14,063,214	14,800,000	15,137,290
27	South Sudan	14,959,238	13,992,944	14,563,459	14,505,214	14,353,872
28	Turkmenistan	14,061,354	14,163,765	14,281,484	14,122,637	14,270,745
29	Spain	15,439,220	15,081,350	14,452,590	13,596,560	13,476,030
30	Afghanistan	12,808,421	12,700,000	12,500,000	12,159,580	12,450,000
31	Argentina	14,571,766	13,347,911	12,461,845	12,609,460	12,440,906
32	Burkina Faso	9,589,000	11,143,288	11,286,022	11,430,584	11,543,571
33	Peru	11,097,551	10,942,309	11,210,723	11,283,007	11,278,083
34	Mauritania	10,988,830	11,137,471	11,181,479	11,090,055	11,208,099
35	Yemen	9,866,017	10,359,317	10,624,080	10,742,912	10,799,861
36	Romania	10,281,500	10,087,400	10,247,400	10,299,500	10,443,400
37	Tanzania	8,126,684	8,802,462	9,087,935	9,373,407	9,505,944
38	Mexico	8,725,882	8,766,678	8,805,206	8,836,730	8,866,253
39	Senegal	7,699,966	7,725,647	8,625,583	8,821,565	8,726,635
40	Somalia	11,124,391	10,565,692	9,828,805	8,962,290	7,987,932
41	Greece	7,721,800	7,690,900	7,378,400	7,994,200	7,774,200
42	Libya	7,453,510	7,378,590	7,374,199	7,502,613	7,491,773
43	Bolivia	7,612,750	7,633,504	7,592,484	7,476,133	7,470,438
44	Azerbaijan	7,483,725	7,314,166	7,170,828	6,640,708	7,041,901
45	Iraq	6,723,866	6,754,123	6,784,517	6,815,047	6,672,540
46	France	6,998,710	6,994,630	6,746,000	6,802,000	6,607,000
47	Ghana	5,544,000	5,695,000	5,840,815	5,978,499	6,176,664
48	Tunisia	6,506,843	6,375,072	6,236,361	6,165,352	6,094,960
49	Uruguay	6,337,000	6,230,000	6,164,000	5,927,000	5,654,270
50	Kyrgyzstan	5,508,032	5,535,597	5,515,593	5,553,208	5,621,278
51	Italy	7,034,160	6,728,350	6,568,000	6,497,000	5,390,350
52	United States	5,200,000	5,200,000	5,165,000	5,130,000	5,030,000
53	Uganda	4,717,000	4,363,756	4,372,122	4,374,137	4,373,676
54	Tajikistan	3,825,000	4,015,000	4,224,000	4,610,000	4,283,000
55	Guinea	3,082,187	3,288,023	3,507,606	3,722,971	3,995,308
56	Bangladesh	3,607,000	3,679,000	3,752,000	3,827,000	3,903,000
57	Ireland	3,877,220	3,991,180	4,018,030	3,740,910	3,591,640
58	Cameroon	3,394,387	3,419,013	3,583,379	3,598,349	3,551,761
59	Jordan	3,002,286	3,085,261	2,961,717	3,471,584	3,076,021
60	Benin	2,361,945	2,430,290	2,500,613	2,572,970	2,647,421
61	Ivory Coast	2,262,971	2,343,855	2,437,692	2,535,285	2,636,786
62	Eritrea	2,461,270	2,508,099	2,508,626	2,525,186	2,508,985
63	Portugal	2,303,720	2,293,410	2,269,280	2,216,700	2,142,450
64	Norway	2,295,736	2,264,789	2,253,000	2,174,500	2,128,600
65	United Arab Emirates	2,054,572	2,064,405	2,072,026	2,048,711	2,045,170
66	Togo	1,772,332	1,878,672	1,991,392	2,039,685	2,029,331
67	Egypt	1,936,000	1,938,000	2,132,000	1,952,000	1,950,000
68	Namibia	1,307,355	1,560,609	2,204,508	1,999,839	1,921,652
69	Lesotho	626,668	1,397,997	2,377,809	1,965,660	1,913,822
70	Serbia	1,684,613	1,695,408	1,720,826	1,716,809	1,759,424
71	Chile	1,950,000	1,850,000	1,870,000	1,860,000	1,750,000
72	Colombia	1,779,697	1,805,877	1,819,247	1,792,245	1,689,875
73	Germany	1,483,700	1,508,100	1,516,900	1,559,700	1,510,900
74	Cuba	1,458,200	1,442,900	1,411,800	1,372,500	1,357,728
75	Albania	1,557,861	1,480,450	1,371,695	1,206,206	1,176,523
76	Angola	1,062,621	1,126,213	1,129,800	1,134,895	1,140,494
77	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1,014,427	1,029,966	997,046	1,003,559	1,098,899
78	Bulgaria	1,307,770	1,199,550	1,096,400	1,072,770	1,016,700
79	Sierra Leone	894,773	929,830	939,621	923,425	934,780
80	Madagascar	890,542	943,200	949,012	945,990	925,907
81	DR Congo	914,328	915,870	917,414	918,961	920,510
82	Hungary	944,000	887,000	871,700	907,100	846,800
83	Canada	810,800	813,700	822,200	846,800	822,000
84	Qatar	1,021,718	921,379	813,941	810,601	804,695
85	Zimbabwe	380,003	405,386	431,957	512,758	746,277
86	Kuwait	725,700	748,530	764,424	734,585	737,547
87	Georgia	841,900	896,200	904,300	863,800	712,400
88	Burundi	759,687	635,183	665,068	696,359	708,094
89	Armenia	639,598	693,439	691,787	680,410	690,565
90	Oman	629,742	642,330	655,180	668,285	681,650
91	Nepal	806,079	793,725	771,205	501,849	633,222
92	Venezuela	618,694	620,000	635,000	630,000	629,786
93	Guatemala	595,936	608,870	611,942	617,279	611,329
94	Netherlands	710,000	729,000	723,000	665,000	607,000
95	Croatia	662,000	654,000	643,000	552,000	553,000
96	Myanmar	439,400	455,400	542,000	540,000	540,000
97	North Macedonia	630,634	633,281	646,488	587,073	517,128
98	Ukraine	658,800	621,000	607,100	518,600	488,000
99	Guinea-Bissau	474,590	472,801	472,332	472,188	472,038
100	Djibouti	469,959	470,381	470,038	470,288	470,538
101	Central African Republic	443,373	447,887	441,204	446,935	452,132
102	Ecuador	496,535	528,828	551,960	561,949	448,382
103	Malawi	366,184	373,715	404,956	427,754	436,701
104	Lebanon	428,235	437,585	424,856	430,119	430,853
105	Moldova	474,400	433,849	419,290	416,895	423,608
106	Israel	500,000	520,000	550,000	500,000	400,000
107	Austria	393,760	402,350	400,660	391,870	390,940
108	Switzerland	343,528	349,112	355,893	362,375	374,239
109	Paraguay	307,004	313,844	476,995	365,948	371,738
110	Cyprus	326,330	350,550	343,630	353,530	364,750
111	Iceland	400,724	385,194	365,290	354,986	345,440
112	Zambia	196,428	224,727	260,560	308,354	330,243
113	Sweden	367,740	348,770	340,840	338,550	315,790
114	Haiti	275,715	280,898	288,001	302,153	311,123
115	Rwanda	420,365	390,767	331,748	301,343	288,916
116	Liberia	279,469	280,238	280,653	281,174	281,696
117	Slovakia	294,252	290,918	301,130	289,849	276,464
118	Poland	277,850	265,277	266,370	270,492	269,538
119	Dominican Republic	255,158	260,536	259,553	260,753	261,952
120	Mozambique	155,484	163,540	164,002	229,764	229,764
121	Gabon	212,227	218,878	219,385	220,231	221,154
122	Gambia	176,984	178,081	179,185	187,320	190,879
123	Czech Republic	203,612	183,145	174,200	179,158	180,368
124	North Korea	171,000	167,955	164,390	165,191	164,779
125	Botswana	233,078	222,605	201,405	175,892	148,744
126	Denmark	135,339	135,487	132,510	152,572	147,980
127	Montenegro	176,580	165,918	161,376	155,096	144,916
128	Malaysia	124,674	136,769	138,520	141,029	139,393
129	Guyana	131,897	131,971	132,011	132,086	132,162
130	Congo	124,511	124,958	125,352	125,654	125,957
131	Lithuania	140,600	136,900	135,640	127,880	124,410
132	Slovenia	113,734	119,267	117,200	116,323	116,825
133	Finland	140,200	131,100	132,080	122,100	115,432
134	Faroe Islands	77,768	78,924	77,849	78,888	79,941
135	Belarus	87,400	82,700	78,700	75,700	74,000
136	Latvia	91,890	90,340	87,320	78,300	69,640
137	Bahrain	60,000	60,000	62,300	63,100	63,000
138	Estonia	68,100	65,600	63,100	55,100	46,100
139	Equatorial Guinea	41,117	41,185	41,356	41,521	41,686
140	Thailand	41,289	41,768	41,836	41,750	41,664
141	Fiji	30,743	32,061	35,370	38,073	39,547
142	Timor-Leste	32,286	38,628	40,393	38,000	39,000
143	Philippines	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000
144	Comoros	25,682	26,067	26,244	25,963	26,249
145	Cape Verde	18,768	18,997	19,229	19,464	19,701
146	Eswatini	17,116	17,995	18,103	18,233	18,522
147	Sri Lanka	11,290	12,010	12,200	12,880	17,820
148	Honduras	16,146	16,273	16,483	16,716	16,971
149	Belize	15,322	15,989	16,210	16,504	16,798
150	Trinidad and Tobago	15,995	15,900	16,604	17,349	15,471
151	Japan	13,421	13,783	14,148	14,609	15,151
152	Malta	13,150	12,730	14,470	13,990	14,560
153	Puerto Rico	13,943	14,934	16,604	16,446	12,791
154	Barbados	12,699	12,805	12,736	12,726	12,718
155	Saint Kitts and Nevis	8,351	7,627	12,000	13,353	10,993
156	Grenada	11,868	11,277	10,742	10,000	9,639
157	Luxembourg	9,518	9,956	9,000	9,014	9,635
158	Bhutan	10,793	10,694	10,024	9,411	9,176
159	Saint Lucia	9,543	9,065	9,108	9,261	9,146
160	Dominica	8,289	8,352	8,409	8,463	8,516
161	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	8,655	8,706	8,627	8,561	8,496
162	Papua New Guinea	7,292	7,312	7,292	7,300	7,309
163	Suriname	5,923	6,268	6,649	6,936	6,626
164	Bahamas	6,562	6,572	6,580	6,585	6,590
165	El Salvador	5,529	5,529	5,550	5,564	5,577
166	Mauritius	4,626	5,034	4,367	5,750	5,050
167	Antigua and Barbuda	8,561	6,833	5,991	5,232	4,473
168	Brunei	4,240	4,342	4,366	4,399	4,356
169	Sao Tome and Principe	3,336	3,346	3,357	3,372	3,386
170	Costa Rica	2,865	2,874	2,877	2,887	2,896
171	New Caledonia	2,212	1981	1897	2030	1753
172	South Korea	1895	1915	1756	1564	1391
173	Jamaica	1313	1314	1315	1313	1311
174	Vanuatu	-	-	1260	1260	1260
175	French Polynesia	440	441	441	441	441
176	Taiwan	158	161	160	158	155
177	Hong Kong	23	22	23	23	23
178	Belgium	-	-	110,120	-	-
179	Nicaragua	6,744	6,856	6,882	6,931	-
180	Palestine	766,550	771,168	782,060	-	-

Methodology

Percentage changes use the corresponding value in the earlier year as the base. Yearly totals sum FAO Crops and Livestock Products stocks quantity (Element 5111) for item Sheep, 2020-2024. For sheep stocks, quantities are shown as whole head. The 2024 sheep stocks ranking and shares use 2024 listed quantities. In the sheep stocks data, zero means a reported nil or negligible flow; an empty cell means no quantity was reported. For sheep stocks changes, only countries with quantities in both endpoint years enter the arithmetic. Stocks record the standing herd, not a production flow. Production quantities are reported to FAO by national statistical sources.