ISN Slaughterhouse Ranking 2024: Top 10 Pig Slaughterhouses in Germany
Last year, 2024, the number of pig slaughters in Germany increased slightly for the first time since 2016. At 44.65 million slaughters, this was approximately 1.8% more than in 2023. However, from 2016 to 2023, there had been a massive decline in slaughters of 25.8%. The consequences of this drastic decline in German pig populations were also clearly felt in the slaughterhouse industry in 2024, ultimately resulting in various slaughterhouse closures or takeovers. For some regions with already less developed structures in pig processing, such as Brandenburg or Hesse, this development entails longer transport routes and leads to a further weakening of these structures.
The concentration of pig slaughter in Germany is primarily in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. More than two-thirds of pig slaughter in Germany took place in these two federal states. In North Rhine-Westphalia, approximately 16.72 million pigs were slaughtered in 2024. This is 2.3% more than in the previous year, while the slaughter figures in Lower Saxony remained unchanged at 13.43 million pigs. A second core region lies in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Bavaria accounted for 3.79 million slaughters (-1.9%), while Baden-Württemberg had 3.69 million (+2.9%). The increasing concentration on these two regions in the northwest and south corresponds to the development of livestock populations and is logical in terms of securing raw materials, as they account for almost 80% of the total German pig population. In Saxony-Anhalt, 2.8 million (+8.7%) pigs were slaughtered, while slaughterings in Brandenburg (-13.5%), Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (-6.4%), Hesse (-6.0%) and Saxony (-5.0%) continued to decline at an already low level.
Of the total 44.65 million pigs slaughtered in Germany, the vast majority, 43.3 million, came from German fattening farms. Approximately 1.35 million pigs were imported to Germany for slaughter from neighboring countries. This was approximately 9.2% fewer than the previous year. While approximately 940,000 pigs were imported from the Netherlands, approximately 2.0% fewer than the previous year, deliveries from Belgium saw a more significant decline, falling by 28.1% to approximately 270,000 animals. At the beginning of 2025, further, even more significant declines in deliveries of pigs for slaughter were observed from both the Netherlands and Belgium.
The consolidation process of recent years continued in the German slaughterhouse industry in 2024. While the position shifts in previous ISN slaughterhouse rankings remained limited despite the continuous decline in slaughter numbers, the picture for 2024 is different. In particular, the withdrawal of the Dutch slaughterhouse company Vion from the German market at the beginning of 2024 brought about some changes. The Southern Bavaria Producers' Association took over two sites (Landshut and Vilshofen) of the Dutch group, thus appearing in the ISN slaughterhouse ranking for the first time. The slaughterhouse company Uhlen acquired the site in Perleberg. However, Uhlen did not make it into the top 10 of the ranking. As a result, the share accounted for by the top 10 slaughterhouses fell to 76.5%.
Tönnies remained by far the leader in the ranking of Germany's largest pig slaughterhouses. The 5.6% decline in pig slaughter volumes in 2024 should not obscure the company's continued growth trajectory. Operations at the Sögel and Weißenfels sites were temporarily reduced to one shift per day last year, but according to the company, slaughter volumes were ramped up again at the turn of the year 2024/25. When considering these figures, it should also be noted that the purchase and further processing of pork carcasses cannot be reflected in this ranking.
In addition, Tönnies is currently considering taking over the former Vion slaughterhouse in Crailsheim, where approximately 1 million pigs can be slaughtered annually. However, this acquisition still requires approval from the Federal Cartel Office, which has extended the associated main review procedure (as of today) until June 23, 2025. If the Federal Cartel Office approves it, Tönnies will be the only slaughterhouse company in large parts of Germany with significant locations in both the beef and pork sectors. In 2024, Tönnies achieved a market share of 29.6%; in 2025, this share could be higher if the takeover is successful.
Second-placed Westfleisch increased its slaughter volume by 6.2% to 6.9 million pigs. This means that Westfleisch's market share increased by 0.7 percentage points to 15.5%. Due to Vion's withdrawal from the German market, the gap between the two leading companies, Tönnies and Westfleisch, and third place has now increased significantly. Third place is now occupied by Danish Crown. After the Danish company drastically reduced its slaughter volumes at its Essen (Oldenburg) site in 2023, production was significantly increased again in 2024. The bottom line at the end of the year was 2.75 million pigs slaughtered, an increase of 31.1%. Some pig deliveries that were previously destined for Emstek are likely to have found space at Danish Crown in Essen later in the year.
In the current 2024 ranking, Vion reappears in fourth place with 2.4 million slaughters, before disappearing from the list next year. Until January 2024, pigs were still slaughtered at the former largest site in Emstek (capacity of over 3 million pigs per year) before it was closed. Pigs were also slaughtered under the Vion banner at the sites in Landshut, Vilshofen, and Perleberg for several months until buyers were found for these sites. The slaughterhouse in Crailsheim is to be taken over by Tönnies.
Böseler Goldschmaus secured fifth place. With a 7.6% increase in slaughter volume to 1.83 million pigs, they overtook Müller Fleisch, which reached 1.75 million slaughter volumes (-1.7%). They were followed by Tummel with 1.60 million slaughter volumes (+3.2%) and EG Südbayern, which completely took over the two slaughterhouses in Landshut and Vilshofen, in which Vion previously held a significant stake, in the course of 2024, thus bringing the total to 1.44 million slaughter volumes. Steinemann took ninth place with 1.18 million slaughter volumes (+1.4%). Simon-Fleisch, with an increase of 3.3% to 1.09 million pigs, narrowly displaced its competitor Manten from tenth place, which recorded a slight decrease of 1.6% to 1.06 million pigs.
The latest livestock census results indicate continued stable slaughter figures in Germany, at least for this year. However, whether this will lead to a sustainable consolidation of structures in the slaughterhouse industry remains questionable, according to ISN market analyst Klaus Kessing: There is still unrest in the downstream sector, and the consolidation process appears to be ongoing. Further changes within the top 10 are conceivable. Pig slaughter is increasingly concentrated in northwestern Germany and another region in the south, while structurally weaker, market-distant regions are increasingly falling behind. Slaughterhouse companies' strategies remain focused on a secure supply of raw materials. The origin of the piglets is becoming a particular focus of attention. German piglets are in demand – and this is now also reflected in financial preference for German piglets over imported animals from Denmark and the Netherlands. It will be interesting to see how the increasing concentration in the slaughterhouse sector on the two market leaders, Tönnies and Westfleisch, will affect marketing structures and, in particular, pricing.
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