The United States is the world’s third-largest producer and consumer of pork and pork products. In December 2024, U.S. hog and pig inventories totaled 75.8 million head, while 2024 exports of pork and pork products reached $8.63 billion. Together, these figures show the scale of an industry that connects farms, processors, retailers, and international markets.
Contents
- U.S. pork industry at a glance
- Hog inventories and breeding activity
- How U.S. hog operations work
- Pork exports and international markets
- Global meat production
- Major pork companies and processing
U.S. pork industry at a glance
The U.S. pork sector has a large domestic base and a substantial export role. USDA Economic Research Service (USDA ERS) reports that U.S. pork muscle-meat exports have averaged more than 20% of commercial pork production since 2011. Since 2000, the United States has ranked among the world’s top five annual pork exporters every year.
USDA ERS reports that the U.S. share of world exported pork averaged 29% over the last decade. The share reached 26% in 2020, after peaking at 35% in 2008. In the last five years covered by the USDA ERS comparison, the United States ranked second among the top five pork-exporting countries.
From 2010 through 2022, U.S. exports of fresh and frozen pork cuts averaged more than 5.6 billion pounds on a carcass-weight-equivalent basis. The series reached 7.3 billion pounds in 2020. These measures describe exported product in a standardized weight format, so they are useful for comparing trade volume across years.
USDA ERS also notes that U.S. hog operations are heavily concentrated in the Midwest and eastern North Carolina. That geographic concentration shapes where production, feed use, animal transport, processing capacity, and related services are located.
Hog inventories and breeding activity
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA NASS) reported 75.8 million hogs and pigs in the United States on December 1, 2024. The inventory included 69.8 million market hogs and 6.00 million animals kept for breeding.
The same December 2024 report recorded 35.2 million pigs weaned from September through November 2024. That total was 2% higher than the comparable period a year earlier. Producers weaned an average of 11.92 pigs per litter during those three months.
Iowa accounted for 24.6 million head of inventory in December 2024. That figure illustrates the importance of the leading production states within the national total, although the USDA data also identifies a broader concentration across the Midwest and eastern North Carolina.
Producers intended to have 2.93 million sows farrow from December 2024 through February 2025 and 2.95 million sows farrow from March through May 2025, according to USDA NASS’s December report. These are intentions for future farrowings, rather than completed production totals.
For comparison, USDA NASS reported 76.5 million hogs and pigs on September 1, 2024. That September inventory was slightly higher than in September 2023 and 2% higher than on June 1, 2024. Producers weaned an average of 11.72 pigs per litter from June through September 2024.
The September 2024 report recorded intended farrowings of 2.96 million sows from September through November 2024 and 2.93 million from December 2024 through February 2025. The latter intention also appeared in the later December report, providing a direct comparison between reporting dates rather than a new completed count.
| USDA NASS measure | Period or date | Reported figure |
|---|---|---|
| Total hog and pig inventory | December 1, 2024 | 75.8 million head |
| Market hog inventory | December 1, 2024 | 69.8 million head |
| Breeding inventory | December 1, 2024 | 6.00 million head |
| Weaned pigs | September–November 2024 | 35.2 million |
| Average pigs weaned per litter | September–November 2024 | 11.92 |
| Total hog and pig inventory | September 1, 2024 | 76.5 million head |
How U.S. hog operations work
USDA ERS describes several stages in the U.S. hog production system. Farrow-to-finish operations raise hogs from birth through slaughter weight. Hogs in these operations typically reach about 270 to 285 pounds before slaughter.
Farrow-to-wean operations sell pigs immediately after weaning, typically at 12 to 14 pounds. Nursery operations then raise feeder pigs to about 40 pounds before selling them to finishing operations. Finishing operations keep pigs for about four months until they reach a slaughter weight of 270 to 285 pounds.
The breeding cycle is also measured in litters. A sow produces slightly more than two litters per year on average, and those litters often contain more than 11 pigs. USDA ERS reports that less than 3% of U.S. sows and gilts are serviced through pen mating.
These figures describe operating stages and averages, not a guarantee for every farm or animal. The 270-to-285-pound slaughter-weight range, the approximately four-month finishing period, and the litter figures are USDA ERS descriptions of typical production conditions.
USDA ERS says U.S. hog production is supported by a monthly Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook report. Its Livestock & Meat Domestic Data set contains current and historical data on pork production, supply, use, and farm prices. Its Meat Price Spreads data set provides average price values at farm, wholesale, and retail stages for selected pork cuts, including retail prices.
Pork exports and international markets
USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) reported U.S. pork and pork-products exports of $8.63 billion in 2024, with export volume of 3.03 million metric tons. USDA FAS also reported a three-year average export value of $8.16 billion and compound average export-value growth of 4.5% from 2015 to 2024.
Mexico was the largest listed destination in 2024, buying $2.58 billion of U.S. pork and pork products. Japan purchased $1.38 billion, China purchased $1.11 billion, and Canada purchased $852.96 million.
Other listed destinations included South Korea at $727.9 million, Colombia at $359.87 million, Australia at $327.81 million, and the Dominican Republic at $277.07 million. Honduras bought $147.18 million, while the Philippines bought $120.81 million.
| Destination | U.S. pork and pork-products purchases in 2024 |
|---|---|
| Mexico | $2.58 billion |
| Japan | $1.38 billion |
| China | $1.11 billion |
| Canada | $852.96 million |
| South Korea | $727.9 million |
| Colombia | $359.87 million |
| Australia | $327.81 million |
| Dominican Republic | $277.07 million |
| Honduras | $147.18 million |
| Philippines | $120.81 million |
The USDA ERS and USDA FAS measures cover different concepts. USDA ERS’s long-run series includes shares of world exports and carcass-weight-equivalent volumes for selected periods. USDA FAS’s 2024 figures report export value and metric-ton volume for pork and pork products. They should be read as complementary measures rather than combined into a single total.
Global meat production
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in its Agricultural production statistics for 2010–2024, reported global meat production of 374 million tonnes in 2024. That was 7 million tonnes higher than in 2023. Chicken, pig, and cattle meat were the three most-produced meat categories worldwide in 2024.
The FAO’s Meat and Meat Products outlook provides a separate forecast framing. It forecast world meat production to expand marginally to 371 million tonnes carcass-weight equivalent in 2024 and predicted global pig meat production would shrink by about 1.2 million tonnes in 2024.
The 374-million-tonne figure is a reported production estimate for 2024 in the FAO agricultural production statistics, while the 371-million-tonne figure is an outlook forecast expressed on a carcass-weight-equivalent basis. Because the sources use different statistical contexts and measurement conventions, the figures are not a basis for an unsupported subtraction or direct reconciliation.
Major pork companies and processing
Company filings show how production and processing scale up beyond individual farms. Smithfield Foods said its Fresh Pork segment had $5.9 billion in sales for the nine months ended September 29, 2024. The segment represented 58% of total sales, generated $196 million in segment profit, represented 25% of total operating profit, and operated at a 3% profit margin during that period.
Smithfield also said it processed approximately 29 million head through its Fresh Pork segment in the year ended December 31, 2023. For the nine months ended September 29, 2024, approximately one-third of its fresh pork products transferred to its Packaged Meats segment. Those transferred products supplied approximately 80% of the Packaged Meats segment’s raw-material requirements.
In its 2024 annual report, Smithfield reported Packaged Meats segment sales of $8.3 billion. The segment represented 59% of total sales and had a 14.0% operating profit margin, or a 13.6% adjusted operating profit margin. The reported margin was up 70 basis points from 12.9% in fiscal 2023.
For fiscal 2024, Smithfield reported net sales of $14.1 billion, operating profit of $1.1 billion, adjusted operating profit of $1.0 billion, an operating margin of 7.9%, and an adjusted operating margin of 7.2%. Net income from continuing operations per common share was $2.06, or $1.88 on an adjusted basis.
Other company disclosures provide additional capacity and profitability measures. Seaboard Triumph Foods operates an Iowa pork-processing plant with capacity to process approximately 6 million hogs annually. Seaboard Foods ranked number 3 in U.S. hog production in 2024 based on sows in production and number 4 in U.S. pork processing based on daily processing capacity. Seaboard’s Pork segment operating income increased by $475 million in 2024 compared with 2023, while total cash generated from operating activities was $519 million. The company planned approximately $215 million of investment in its Pork segment.
JBS reported that its Pork USA segment adjusted EBITDA increased by US$544.3 million to US$1,071.2 million in 2024. JBS said that represented a 103.3% increase from 2023. It also reported that certain costs in the segment, including hog prices and feed costs, fell 1.8% in 2024.
Tyson Foods reported a $45 million legal contingency accrual for its Pork segment in fiscal 2024. That is a company-reported legal accounting item, not a measure of pork production or sales.