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Livestock survey

To determine the stock of pigs, sheep and goats on the reference date 1 December, about 7 000 agricultural holdings are selected annually in the course of the livestock survey using stratified random sampling and are surveyed directly. Based on the stock reports of the surveyed units, stocks at the national and federal province level are determined by extrapolation after completion of the associated plausibility procedure.

The results obtained in this way not only serve to fulfil related EU-wide reporting obligations, but also form an important data basis for the compilation of the economic accounts for agriculture, supply balances and gross indigenous production forecasts.

Based on the Livestock Statistics Regulation (Federal Law Gazette II No. 163/2012 as amended – available in German language only), Statistics Austria is obliged to carry out the sample survey and to determine the number of pigs, sheep and goats on the reference date 1 December 2024. This survey is carried out throughout the EU according to uniform criteria and is based on Regulation (EC) No. 1165/2008 on the submission of livestock and meat statistics.

Comprehensive data protection information on this survey can be found on our data protection sheet (available in German language only). Statistical confidentiality and the protection of personal data are among our most important principles, to which we are legally bound by the Federal Statistics Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act (Federal Law Gazette I No. 165/1999 as amended).

According to § 9 of the Livestock Statistics Regulation (available in German language only) and § 9 of the Federal Statistics Act 2000 (Federal Law Gazette I No. 163/1999 as amended), there is a legal obligation to provide information! All selected farmers, including former farmers, are obliged to provide information and to cooperate both in this survey and in determining the new person obliged to provide information.

The data must be provided in time, completely and truthfully. The collected data are subject to confidentiality according to § 17 of the Federal Statistics Act 2000. The use for fiscal purposes is excluded. According to Livestock Statistics Regulation § 12 of Federal Law Gazette II No. 163/2012 or § 66 of the Federal Statistics Act, refusal to provide information or knowingly providing incomplete information shall be punished as an administrative offense.

The questionnaire shall indicate the stock on the reference date 1 December 2024 of

  • pigs
  • sheep
  • goats
  • respectively the number of non-examined slaughterings of pigs in the period from 2 December 2023 to 1 December 2024.

In case of a zero report, the questionnaire must be returned with a corresponding comment.

The required survey documents were sent by mail to about 7 000 agricultural holdings selected on the basis of a stratified random sample. The completed questionnaire must be returned to Statistics Austria by 17 December 2024 at the latest (also in case of a zero report).

Regardless of their further use, all animals of the surveyed categories kept on the agricultural holding (even short-term) are considered part of the “stock on the reference date” and must be included.

The livestock survey on 1 December 2024 can be conducted online using the Statistics Austria portal. The required access data was sent by mail. If you have received an initial password, this must be changed to a personal password, when you first log in. After that it can be used for frequent accesses into the portal. For more information, please visit the VIS website (available in German language only).

Questionnaire

After successful registration in the Statistics Austria portal, you can click on the eQuest‑Web button to access the web questionnaire “Livestock Survey 2024”.

  • Targeted plausibility checks are carried out as soon as the data is entered and implausible entries are identified by means of warnings and error messages.
  • The questionnaire completion can be interrupted at any time and continued at a later point in time as long as the data are saved. In general, data entries should be saved regularly in order to prevent any data loss.
  • Only after clicking on the “Report Questionnaire” button and receiving the associated confirmation that the questionnaire has been sent, the questionnaire is considered to be submitted to the system of Statistics Austria.

Team Animal Production Available from Monday to Friday 9.00 am to 3.00 pm
Phone: +43 1 711 28-7959
Phone: +43 1 711 28-7654
tiere@statistik.gv.at Fax: +43 1 493 43 00
Last updated on 2024-11-18.