Kathmandu. New Zealand’s vast sheep population compared to its small human population has long been the subject of jokes aimed at New Zealanders abroad.
It’s true: the country is one of the few countries in the world where there are still more sheep than people. But people are starting to catch up, according to new figures released on Tuesday. According to the government statistics agency, there are about 4.5 sheep for every New Zealander in a country with 23.6 million sheep and a population of 5.3 million people.
That’s down from 22 sheep per person in 1982. Back then, sheep farming for meat and wool was New Zealand’s biggest source of income. Now, the world’s biggest lobby group says a global shift towards synthetic fibres, coupled with years of falling wool prices, is forcing farmers to change what they do with their land.
Shrinking herds
New Zealand is about the size of the UK in terms of geographical area, but its population is 13 times smaller. That means there is plenty of room for sheep. For around 150 years, the sheep industry has been the backbone of New Zealand’s economy and numbers have continued to grow. It peaked in 1982 when there were more than 7 million sheep and 3.2 million people. Before ‘Lord of the Rings’ brought waves of tourists to the country, depictions of green fields with peaceful sheep against a backdrop of snow-capped mountains dominated the country’s foreign marketing.
But in the years since, despite a decline in global wool prices and a recent boom, the national herd has steadily declined. The dairy industry now accounts for the largest share of New Zealand’s agriculture and horticulture-dominated export market.
Farmers’ new effort
In 2023, government agency Stats NZ said New Zealand had fewer than five sheep per person for the first time in 2022. The national herd, which records livestock numbers up to June 2024, had lost another one million sheep in Tuesday’s figures. Toby Williams, a spokesman for regional lobby group Federated Farmers, said sheep farmers were converting land from farming to pine forests to sell carbon offsets, which are more profitable. “If I’m being really honest, the wool industry is almost at that tipping point, if not already, it’s at a point where it’s no longer a wool industry,” he said.
Ways to strengthen wool
The government has put in place measures to slow the decline. This includes announcing that they will set a limit on the amount of farmland that can be converted to carbon forest by 2024. New government procurement guidelines launched in April call for the use of New Zealand wool products, such as carpets and insulation, in newly built or renovated public buildings.
But those measures are not expected to stop declining sheep numbers. Some sheep-raising countries are seeing a similar trend. Neighbouring Australia, the source of most sheep jokes about New Zealanders, also has more sheep than people, but the national herd is also declining. The difference is stark: Australia has about three sheep per person.
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