Livestock report - 2024

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Livestock is a fundamental pillar of the agricultural sector in Uruguay. Considering the subsectors and the related industries it is generally known as the agro-industrial sector, the GDP contribution of which fluctuates between 14% and 16%. In addition to its direct participation, the agroindustry creates positive effects in other sectors, with backward linkages (increasing demand for transport services, storage, supplies production, telecommunications, etc.) and forward linkages (a major part of the national agro-industrial production serves as input for other industries).
  
  
• In 2023, around 107,000 people worked in livestock activities and related industries. While 27% of these people were employed by this industry, 73% of them worked in the primary activity.
  
  
• This report defines the livestock sector as a field of agriculture which is dedicated to acquiring animal-based products through animal breeding and management. This sector includes meat production (such as bovine, porcine, ovine and poultry), by-products (such as bones and innards), dairy (such as milk, cheese, yogurt and butter), leather (animal skins for the leather industry), wool (animal fiber used for the textile industry) and live cattle.
  
  
• The livestock sector remained as Uruguay's top exporter, based on this classification, generating income of around US$ 4 billion in 2023, comparable to the previous exports record of 2021. Meat products equivalent to 695,000 tons, amounted to US$ 2,647 billion in 2023 for the livestock sector exports.