How do animals fare in Swedish farming?
Short answer: In June 2025 Sweden had 1.4 million cattle, 1.3 million pigs and just under 8 million hens, and 110 million chickens were slaughtered during the year. On several points Swedish law is stricter than the EU's: dairy cows must graze outdoors, pigs' tails may not be docked, all animals must be stunned before slaughter and antibiotics may not be given to make animals grow. At the same time, the county boards found shortcomings in 48 percent of their planned animal welfare inspections in 2025, and research points to problems that exist here too: chickens that grow so fast that many have difficulty walking, calves separated from their mothers early, and pigs stunned with carbon dioxide. Beef has the highest climate emissions per unit of protein, but grazing animals also keep pastures open.
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Fewer animals, on fewer and larger farms.
Thousands of animals on one day in June, from the Swedish Board of Agriculture's statistical database (table JO0103F01, Farm animals in June). Hens means all hens on farms, not only laying hens. Broilers are not counted here because a flock lives about five weeks; in June 2025 there were 10 million on farms.
- Animals slaughtered
- 113 million
- Of which 110 million chickens, 2.6 million pigs, 383,000 cattle. Swedish Board of Agriculture
- Swedish share of beef eaten
- 54 %
- Pork 81 %, poultry 75 %, lamb 23 %, eggs 97 %. Swedish Board of Agriculture
The number of dairy cows has more than halved since 1981, but each cow gives more milk and farms have grown much larger. 2025 was the first time since 1866 that the country had fewer than 1.4 million cattle. The number of pigs has also halved, while hens have increased since 2010. Sweden produces the equivalent of 54 percent of the beef eaten here.
What Swedish law requires, and what the EU requires.
The basis is the Animal Welfare Act (2018:1192), in force since 1 April 2019, which replaced the act of 1988. Animals must be treated well and protected from unnecessary suffering and disease, and they must be able to behave naturally in the sense of performing behaviours they are strongly motivated to perform (chapter 2, sections 1 and 2). The details are in the Animal Welfare Ordinance (2019:66) and in the Board of Agriculture's regulations for each species. EU rules are a minimum that all member states must meet; Sweden may have stricter rules for animals raised here, but may not stop imports of goods that meet EU rules.
| Area | Sweden | EU |
|---|---|---|
| Grazing for dairy cows | Cattle older than six months must graze in summer, at least 6 hours in a row per day. At least 120 days in Skåne, Halland and Blekinge, 90 in the rest of Götaland and Svealand and 60 in Dalarna and Norrland (ordinance 2019:66, ch. 2 § 3; SJVFS 2019:18, ch. 6). | No grazing requirement. |
| Pigs' tails | Tails may not be docked. Only Sweden and Finland ban it in national law (Finnish government). | May not be done routinely, only when other measures against tail biting have been tried (directive 2008/120/EC). In a survey of 24 countries, an average of 77 percent of pigs were routinely docked (De Briyne et al. 2018). |
| Castration of piglets | Piglets must receive local anaesthesia and pain relief before castration (Swedish Board of Agriculture). | Anaesthesia only required if the pig is older than seven days (directive 2008/120/EC). |
| Sows | May only be confined temporarily, for example if the sow is aggressive or at feeding (SJVFS 2019:20, 10 §). | Must be kept in groups from four weeks after service until one week before farrowing. The rest of the time they may be kept in stalls or farrowing crates. |
| Laying hens | Traditional cages were banned in 1999. Furnished cages with nest, perch and dust bath are allowed (SJVFS 2019:23); in 2023, 3 percent of hens were kept in them (Svenska Ägg). | Traditional cages banned since 2012, furnished cages allowed (directive 1999/74/EC). |
| Broilers, maximum density | 20 kg per square metre, or up to 36 kg and at most 25 birds with an approved control programme such as Svensk Fågel's (SJVFS 2019:23, ch. 3 § 5). | 33 kg, 39 kg if extra requirements are met and 42 kg in exceptional cases (directive 2007/43/EC). |
| Stunning before slaughter | All animals slaughtered by bleeding must be stunned, with no exception for religious slaughter (Animal Welfare Act, ch. 5 § 1). Carbon dioxide is allowed for pigs. | Stunning is required, but member states may allow slaughter without stunning for religious reasons (regulation 1099/2009, art. 4). Carbon dioxide is allowed. |
| Antibiotics | Banned from giving antibiotics to make animals grow faster since 1986, the first country to do so (KSLA). | Banned since 2006. Since 2022, antibiotics may also not be given routinely or preventively to whole groups of animals (regulation 2019/6, art. 107). |
| Transport to slaughter | At most 8 hours within the country, in individual cases 3 more hours if going to the nearest slaughterhouse (SJVFS 2019:7, ch. 5 § 13). | 8 hours, but longer in better equipped vehicles: cattle 14 plus 14 hours with one hour of rest, pigs 24 hours (regulation 1/2005). A 2023 proposal for shorter times is still being negotiated. |
EU directives and regulations link to the British copy of the original text on legislation.gov.uk, as EUR-Lex could not be read. Swedish regulations link to lagen.nu.
The government inquiry SOU 2024:56 found that the Swedish rules make production more expensive and proposed, among other things, that loose-housed cows should be exempt from the grazing requirement. In September 2025 the government decided to keep the requirement during the term and instead pay farmers about 1,000 kronor per cow, 282 million kronor a year in 2026 and 2027, if the EU approves the aid (SVT). Since 2026 virtual fences are allowed for cattle, sheep and goats, and the last mink farms closed in 2025 with state compensation (Djurskyddet Sverige).
How the rules are enforced, and how often they are broken.
- Planned inspections with shortcomings
- 48 %
- Of 3,756 routine inspections; 51 % in 2024. Swedish Board of Agriculture
- Reported animal cruelty offences
- 2,009
- 204 people were prosecuted or fined with animal cruelty as the main offence. Brå
County boards inspect the farms
The county boards carried out 8,713 on-site animal welfare inspections in 2025, compared with 7,840 the year before. 3,756 were planned routine inspections, 2,660 followed complaints and 1,835 were follow-ups. Shortcomings were found in 48 percent of routine inspections and 74 percent of inspections after complaints. The share of routine inspections with shortcomings varied between counties, from 21 to 81 percent. The inspections cover all animals, including dogs, cats and horses.
National animal welfare report 2025, Swedish Board of Agriculture
Animal keeping bans and seized animals
The county boards made 3,629 decisions and filed 530 reports for prosecution in 2025. 351 people were banned from keeping animals, compared with 244 in 2016. Animals were taken into care in 1,158 cases, and 82 percent of these concerned dogs or cats. Bans are issued under chapter 9 § 1 of the Animal Welfare Act for serious neglect, abuse or a conviction for animal cruelty.
National animal welfare report 2025, table 3
Slaughterhouses and transport
The Swedish Food Agency has veterinarians at slaughterhouses and carried out 1,579 inspections there in 2025. The agency sent 1,882 animal welfare notifications to the county boards and 35 reports to the police or prosecutors. Irregularities during transport to slaughter led to 839 cases: 426 concerned pigs, 199 poultry and 185 cattle. The county boards themselves carried out 281 transport inspections.
National animal welfare report 2025, with data from the Swedish Food Agency
Animal cruelty in court
2,009 animal cruelty offences were reported to the police in 2025, compared with 1,705 in 2016. The same year there were 204 prosecution decisions where animal cruelty was the most serious offence, 34 of them for gross animal cruelty. A report can concern any kind of animal, not only farm animals.
Where research sees avoidable suffering.
The European Food Safety Authority, EFSA, reviewed the research on the most common species in 2022 and 2023 ahead of a revision of EU animal welfare rules. The opinions are written by scientists and weigh studies against each other; they say what is best for the animals, not what it costs. Here are the main conclusions and how they relate to Swedish conditions.
Chickens that grow too fast
In a British study of 51,000 chickens from 176 flocks, 27.6 percent walked so poorly that it was clearly visible, and 3.3 percent could barely walk. EFSA found in 2023 that fast growth leads to skeletal and leg disorders and proposed lower stocking density and slower growth. Svensk Fågel has checked the chickens' feet since 1994, but there is no public Swedish figure for how many have difficulty walking.
Tail biting in pigs
Pigs that are stressed or have too little to do bite each other's tails. EFSA found in 2022 that space, flooring, air, health and feed matter most, and that tails should not be docked. In Sweden roughly 1 to 3 percent of pigs have tail injuries at slaughter, and organic pigs about half as often.
Calves and cows
EFSA recommended in 2023 that the calf stay with the cow for at least one day and preferably longer, that calves be kept in pairs or small groups from the first week and that each calf get about 20 square metres so it can play. Research is divided on early separation: it causes less stress at separation, while longer contact gives better social behaviour later. A Swedish dairy cow has on average 2.6 calves before she is slaughtered.
Carbon dioxide at pig slaughter
Carbon dioxide is the most common way of stunning pigs in Sweden. EFSA writes that high concentrations cause breathlessness before the pig loses consciousness, and that pigs may feel pain and fear meanwhile. SLU has tested mixtures with nitrogen that caused less breathlessness but poorer stunning unless the oxygen level was very low.
Transport
EFSA found in 2022 that cattle become thirsty after about 9 hours and hungry after about 12, and that journeys should be as short as possible. For poultry and rabbits in crates, the whole time without feed, including on the farm, should be at most 12 hours. The Swedish limit of 8 hours to slaughter is below that.
Fish
Research indicates that fish can feel pain. SLU's scientific council on animal welfare judged in 2019 that stunning fish with carbon dioxide is not ethically acceptable. Sweden farmed about 11,000 tonnes of fish in 2017, mostly rainbow trout. The Animal Welfare Act's stunning requirement also applies to fish slaughtered by bleeding.
Which animals can feel
In 2024 more than 600 scientists signed the New York Declaration: there is strong scientific support for mammals and birds having conscious experiences, and at least a realistic possibility for all vertebrates and many invertebrates, such as octopuses, crustaceans and insects.
Sweden gives its animals the least antibiotics in the EU.
Milligrams of antibiotics per kilo of animal weight (mg/PCU) in 2022, the four lowest and four highest countries in Europe, from the EU's last ESVAC report via Our World in Data. Norway and Iceland are not in the EU. The EU target for 2030 is roughly 59 mg/PCU. Since 2024 it is measured in a new way, and those figures cannot be compared with these.
Antibiotics given to animals affect people, because bacteria that become resistant in animals can spread to us. Sweden has long been low, with healthy animals, less crowding and the 1986 ban as explanations. In 2024 Swedish veterinarians sold 9,088 kilos of antibiotics for animals. For pigs it rose slightly compared with 2015, because zinc oxide may no longer be used preventively against diarrhoea in piglets (SVA, Swedres-Svarm 2024).
The climate, the land and the pastures.
Per 100 grams of protein, global averages from Poore and Nemecek 2018 (Science 360:987), which compiled about 38,000 farms in 119 countries. Climate in kilos of carbon dioxide equivalents, land in square metres per year. Beef from dairy herds comes from cows and calves that also produce milk, and therefore has lower figures than beef from beef cattle.
Ruminants such as cattle and sheep emit methane when they digest their food, and this is agriculture's largest source of greenhouse gases in Sweden (Swedish Environmental Protection Agency). This also applies to Swedish beef: per gram of protein it causes more emissions than chicken, pork and eggs.
At the same time, grazing animals are needed for semi-natural pastures, which are among the most species-rich habitats in the country. Their area has shrunk sharply since the early 1900s, and when grazing stops the land becomes overgrown. Overgrowth is the biggest threat to red-listed species in the farmed landscape (SLU Swedish Species Information Centre). Eating less meat and keeping the pastures therefore pull in different directions for beef, but not for chicken and pork, which mostly eat grain and soy.
Swedes ate 50.7 kilos of meat per person in 2024, compared with 53.2 kilos in 2016. Chicken has overtaken both pork and beef (Swedish Board of Agriculture, via Dagens PS).
What farmers, the animal rights movement and researchers want.
LRF, the Federation of Swedish Farmers
Wants animal welfare rules that both ensure good animal care and let Swedish farms compete. LRF points out that Swedish farmers often have higher costs than competitors abroad and that the market rarely pays in full for Swedish animal welfare, and wants imported goods to meet the same requirements. In a 2024 consultation response LRF asked for longer transport times in northern Sweden, where slaughterhouses are far away.
Djurens Rätt
Wants to ban carbon dioxide stunning of pigs, cages for hens, fast-growing chickens, fur farming and routine surgical castration, and wants to extend the grazing requirement to more animals.
Djurskyddet Sverige
Has collected over 165,000 signatures to keep and extend the grazing requirement, wants to ban fur farming and wants county board decisions to take effect immediately. The organisation describes the 2022 to 2026 term as a defence of the level that already existed.
The researchers
EFSA's opinions point in the same direction as the animal welfare organisations on several points, for example slower-growing chickens, more space for calves and replacing carbon dioxide, but also note that proven large-scale alternatives are lacking. Swedish researchers at SLU and SVA have shown that pigs can be raised without tail docking and with little antibiotics, and are now testing systems where the calf stays with the cow.
Missing figures.
- How many Swedish chickens have difficulty walking. Svensk Fågel assesses their feet, but gait is not reported publicly.
- What share of pigs are stunned with carbon dioxide. It is the most common method, but no authority reports the share.
- What share of imported meat comes from animals kept in ways that are banned in Sweden.
- How many farm inspections are unannounced.
Where the figures come from.
- Swedish Board of Agriculture statistical database: farm animals in June 1981 to 2025 (JO0103F01) and slaughter (JO0604A3, JO0604A5).
- National animal welfare report 2025 (Swedish Board of Agriculture, May 2026): inspections, shortcomings, animal keeping bans and the Swedish Food Agency's slaughterhouse inspections.
- Brå: reported crimes and prosecution decisions 2016 to 2025.
- Animal Welfare Act (2018:1192), Animal Welfare Ordinance (2019:66) and the Board of Agriculture's regulations (SJVFS 2019:7, 2019:8, 2019:18, 2019:20, 2019:23).
- EU: directives 1999/74/EC, 2007/43/EC and 2008/120/EC, regulations 1/2005, 1099/2009 and 2019/6.
- EFSA animal welfare opinions 2020 to 2023 in EFSA Journal.
- Climate and land: Poore and Nemecek 2018 via Our World in Data. Antibiotics: ESVAC 2022 via Our World in Data and SVA.
- The positions are the organisations' own, taken from their websites in October 2026.