In 2023, New Zealand’s ratio of sheep to people dropped below five-to-one for the first time since national population records began in the late 1850s.
The country once had enough sheep to provide a small flock for every person, with the ratio peaking at 22 sheep for every human in the early 1980s. Stats NZ data released in May 2024 showed the national sheep flock was 24.4 million for the year ended at June 2023. This is a drop of 773,000, or 3% compared with the year before with New Zealand’s estimated population at 5.27 million.
New Zealand remains ahead of Australia in maintaining its sheep-to-person crown. Australia currently has three times more sheep as New Zealand, though their ratio is only around three sheep to every person.
