Policy

The Scale of Farmed Animal Numbers Globally

Understanding the scale of farmed animal numbers is essential context for welfare advocacy and policy.

Key Facts

Approximately 80 billion land animals are slaughtered for food globally each year
Around 70 percent of all mammal biomass on Earth is now livestock
Wild mammal biomass has declined by 82 percent since pre-industrial times
Fish and invertebrate numbers in aquaculture add trillions more animals to the welfare count
The scale of farmed animal use represents the largest single source of human-caused animal suffering

Welfare Considerations

The scale of farmed animal use is so large that even small improvements in conditions for individual animals translate to enormous aggregate welfare benefit. Conversely, each percentage point of increased consumption adds hundreds of millions of additional animal lives to the welfare burden. Understanding this scale is essential for calibrating the importance of individual and systemic welfare interventions.

What You Can Do

Keep the scale of farmed animal numbers in mind when prioritising welfare actions
Support the highest-leverage interventions that benefit the most animals
Advocate for welfare standards that apply to the full scale of animal agriculture
Reduce farmed animal product consumption as a proportional welfare response to the scale of the problem
Share information about the scale of farmed animal numbers to build public understanding