Top Cattle Producing Countries

Cattle were first domesticated around 10,500 years ago in regions that are now Turkey and the Middle East, from wild aurochs (Bos primigenius), and independently in South Asia, giving rise to the two main types: taurine (Bos taurus) and indicine or zebu (Bos indicus) cattle. Over centuries, cattle spread globally, becoming integral to agriculture for meat, milk, hides, and labor. Today, the top countries raising cattle are Brazil, India, the United States, China, and the European Union. Brazil leads in total cattle numbers, largely for beef production, while India has the largest cattle population, primarily for dairy and draft purposes, influenced by cultural and religious factors. The United States is a major producer of both beef and dairy, with highly industrialized systems, while China and the EU also maintain significant cattle industries to support their large populations and diverse agricultural needs.

Rank	Country	Head
1	Brazil	224,602,112
2	India	193,165,740
3	United States of America	93,789,500
4	Ethiopia	65,718,708
5	China	60,522,044
6	Argentina	53,416,435
7	Pakistan	51,495,000
8	Mexico	35,998,615
9	Chad	33,287,209
10	Sudan	32,027,868
11	Tanzania	30,716,518
12	Colombia	29,301,392
13	Bangladesh	24,545,000
14	Australia	24,431,174
15	Kenya	22,853,225
16	Nigeria	21,162,929
17	Indonesia	18,053,710
18	Russia	18,027,172
19	Turkey	17,850,543
20	France	17,330,080
21	Niger	17,107,271
22	Venezuela	16,221,020
23	Uganda	14,624,111
24	Paraguay	13,919,507
25	South Sudan	13,612,784
26	Uzbekistan	13,544,400
27	Mali	12,848,696
28	South Africa	12,232,115
29	Uruguay	11,914,643
30	Canada	11,057,929
31	Germany	11,039,660
32	Burkina Faso	10,400,038
33	Bolivia	10,385,482
34	Myanmar	10,300,000
35	New Zealand	10,150,246
36	United Kingdom	9,603,000
37	Madagascar	8,838,476
38	Guinea	8,826,796
39	Kazakhstan	8,192,415
40	Nepal	7,466,841
41	Ireland	6,649,310
42	Spain	6,576,300
43	Poland	6,378,700
44	Vietnam	6,365,300
45	Italy	6,280,280
46	Cameroon	6,229,800
47	Peru	5,853,660
48	Nicaragua	5,656,625
49	Iran	5,343,674
50	Zimbabwe	5,342,704
51	Angola	5,189,749
52	Afghanistan	5,122,077
53	Mongolia	5,022,225
54	Central African Republic	4,760,635
55	Thailand	4,627,914
56	Somalia	4,435,943
57	Belarus	4,235,900
58	Guatemala	4,103,324
59	Ecuador	4,066,930
60	South Korea	3,990,257
61	Japan	3,961,000
62	Zambia	3,818,846
63	Netherlands	3,705,000
64	Senegal	3,678,029
65	Cuba	3,657,300
66	Morocco	3,178,876
67	Dominican Republic	3,058,952
68	Chile	3,038,122
69	Namibia	2,950,546
70	Honduras	2,911,284
71	Ukraine	2,874,000
72	Egypt	2,819,413
73	Cambodia	2,695,963
74	Benin	2,623,290
75	Philippines	2,605,262
76	Turkmenistan	2,545,403
77	Azerbaijan	2,519,692
78	Tajikistan	2,363,149
79	Belgium	2,310,440
80	Laos	2,258,176
81	Mozambique	2,219,635
82	Eritrea	2,128,383
83	Iraq	2,061,427
84	Malawi	2,036,980
85	Mauritania	1,943,940
86	Ghana	1,929,000
87	Austria	1,870,100
88	Romania	1,826,800
89	Cote d Ivoire	1,786,267
90	Kyrgyzstan	1,750,467
91	Algeria	1,734,476
92	Rwanda	1,678,110
93	Yemen	1,661,997
94	Portugal	1,640,650
95	Haiti	1,518,147
96	Switzerland	1,513,872
97	Panama	1,509,900
98	Congo	1,490,234
99	Denmark	1,480,000
100	Sweden	1,389,890
101	Czechia	1,359,420
102	Costa Rica	1,306,504
103	Sri Lanka	1,131,080
104	Botswana	1,026,589
105	Burundi	951,177
106	Georgia	925,800
107	Hungary	909,900
108	Norway	901,026
109	Syria	872,307
110	Serbia	859,514
111	Finland	829,980
112	El Salvador	738,846
113	Sierra Leone	733,029
114	Guinea-Bissau	725,226
115	Malaysia	701,117
116	Saudi Arabia	700,000
117	Tunisia	630,409
118	Lithuania	628,700
119	Eswatini	614,338
120	Bulgaria	611,200
121	North Korea	581,161
122	Armenia	580,567
123	Greece	564,000
124	Israel	530,000
125	Slovenia	482,620
126	Gambia	462,099
127	Togo	455,756
128	Slovakia	434,090
129	Croatia	428,000
130	Oman	421,950
131	Latvia	393,470
132	Puerto Rico	362,916
133	Lesotho	353,746
134	Bosnia and Herzegovina	341,898
135	Congo	336,834
136	Albania	336,784
137	Djibouti	302,116
138	Bhutan	295,444
139	Estonia	250,800
140	Timor-Leste	222,894
141	Libya	199,605
142	Luxembourg	187,200
143	North Macedonia	177,622
144	China Taiwan	159,122
145	Jamaica	158,357
146	Moldova	108,900
147	United Arab Emirates	104,648
148	Belize	104,318
149	Guyana	99,785
150	Vanuatu	96,818
151	Papua New Guinea	91,675
152	Lebanon	86,820
153	Cyprus	84,610
154	New Caledonia	82,015
155	Iceland	80,563
156	Jordan	78,477
157	Montenegro	75,912
158	Palestine	67,760
159	Fiji	59,905
160	Comoros	51,077
161	Qatar	50,721
162	Liberia	45,340
163	Samoa	44,474
164	Gabon	38,877
165	Trinidad and Tobago	35,845
166	Suriname	35,602
167	Kuwait	31,769
168	Cabo Verde	29,173
169	Micronesia	18,408
170	Solomon Islands	15,285
171	Dominica	14,294
172	Malta	14,020
173	Tonga	12,185
174	Barbados	11,873
175	Saint Lucia	10,692
176	French Polynesia	7,535
177	Bahrain	7,500
178	Equatorial Guinea	5,467
179	Mauritius	4,569
180	Grenada	4,565
181	Antigua and Barbuda	3,583
182	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	3,125
183	Saint Kitts and Nevis	1,978
184	Faroe Islands	1,809
185	China Hong Kong	1,579
186	Sao Tome and Principe	1,392

Data from United Nations FAO Stat