Results from the Scottish Agricultural Census: June 2025
Final results from the 2025 June Agricultural Census on land use, crop areas, livestock and the number of people working on agricultural holdings.
Module results on irrigation methods are also included within this publication.
First published: 30 October 2025.
Sheep numbers remain below five-year average despite rise in 2025
In 2025, the total number of sheep was 6.54 million, a 2.2% decrease compared with the five-year average, and a 1.1% increase on 2024. The number of ewes used for breeding in the previous season was 2.47 million, a 2.1% decrease compared with the five-year average.
The number of lambs also decreased by 2.7% compared with the five-year average to 3.18 million, though a 1.0% increase on 2024.
The number of sheep aged one year and over used for breeding or other purposes was 800,800, in line with the five-year average and a 3.0% increase on 2024.
Figure 9: Number of lambs, ewes, and other sheep (excluding rams used for service), 2015 to 2025. Note data for 2022 were estimated based on administrative data and results in adjacent years.
Contact
email - agric.stats@gov.scot