Because a lactating cow generally produces one calf a year, those cows should have added roughly the same number of calves to the national herd. The agriculture ministry data also shows that during 2024 about 70,000 cattle were slaughtered for meat, which also qualifies for subsidies.
Greece does not publish comprehensive figures for cattle that are culled because of age, declining productivity or disease. But three Greek cattle breeders told POLITICO that such removals amount to roughly 20 percent of the herd each year. Given that there were about 600,000 head of cattle in Greece in 2024, according to ELSTAT, that would be a decrease of about 120,000 animals.
Taken with the subsidies data, that estimate suggests the national herd should have grown by roughly 70,000 that year.
Instead, data compiled by ELSTAT through annual surveys show the national herd has been shrinking, from about 640,000 in 2023 to 600,000 in 2024 to 520,000 in 2025, according to the most recent figures published in June.
The discrepancy could be even larger, said Nikos Dimopoulos, chair of the Kavala Livestock Farmers’ Association. For instance, some of the animals that were slaughtered might have been imported rather than removed from the national herd. In most years, Greece is a net importer of live cattle and exports only small numbers.
“There’s no oversight and we cannot have an exact figure because there is no accurate data,” Dimopoulos said. Authorities only carry out spot checks or investigate following a complaint.
