Having about 9.8 million sheep in 2017, Romania ranks third in the European Union by sheep flocks, being overtaken only by the UK with 24.5 million heads and Spain with 15.9 million sheep, the figures released by Eurostat on Monday reveal.
Romania is followed by Greece with 8.5 million sheep, Italy – 7.2 million, France – 6.8 million, Ireland – 3.9 million heads and Portugal with 2.02 million.
According to the trade balance with agri-food products, Romania collected over EUR 315 million in the first three quarters of 2017 from livestock exports in the EU and extra-EU space, up by almost 15% compared to the same period in 2016, when the receipts totalled almost EUR 275 million.
The consumption of sheep meat in Romania in the year 2016 averaged 2.6 kg/capita.
By comparison, the EU average consumption was 2 kilograms per capita, capital.ro informs.