# How many livestock does Somalia have?

> Somalia's livestock in numbers: herd size by species, what the animals produce, how many die each year, exports, and why sources disagree.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/economy/livestock-numbers-in-somalia/
Last checked: 2026-11-13
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## The herd before the 2016/17 drought

These are estimates for 2015/16 from an FAO study by Otte and others, built on the 2014 livestock figures of the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit ([FSNAU](/en/institutions/fao-somalia/)) ([FAO Statistics Working Paper 23-37, 2023](https://doi.org/10.4060/cc8138en), Table 1).

| | Camels | Cattle | Goats | Sheep | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animals (million) | 6.61 | 3.93 | 28.70 | 13.65 | 52.89 |
| Live weight (million tonnes) | 2.02 | 0.82 | 0.64 | 0.31 | 3.79 |
| Births a year (million) | 1.31 | 0.99 | 18.14 | 6.99 | 27.43 |
| Deaths a year (million) | 0.54 | 0.36 | 7.85 | 2.94 | 11.69 |
| Animals that can be sold a year (million) | 0.77 | 0.62 | 10.28 | 4.04 | 15.71 |
| Value of those animals (USD billion) | 0.42 | 0.12 | 0.38 | 0.11 | 1.03 |
| Milk that can be taken (million tonnes) | 1.47 | 0.47 | 0.32 | 0.15 | 2.41 |
| Value of that milk (USD billion) | 1.28 | 0.36 | 0.24 | 0.11 | 1.99 |

## What the numbers show

- **Camels carry the most weight.** They make up more than half of all livestock by body weight and by income, even though goats far outnumber them ([FAO, 2023](https://doi.org/10.4060/cc8138en)).
- **Milk is worth more than meat.** Herders earn about USD 3 billion a year, two-thirds from milk and one-third from meat, mostly sold as live animals. For camels and cattle, milk is about 75 percent of the income (same source).
- **Many animals die even in good years.** About 12 million animals die each year, 60 percent of them young animals in their first three or four months. About 2 million of the 22 million breeding females die each year, mostly sheep and goats (same source).

## After the drought

The FAO model estimates that the 2016/17 drought cut the herd from **52.9 million to 36.1 million**, a fall of 32 percent. Sheep and goats fell by more than 30 percent, camels and cattle by less than 20 percent ([FAO, 2023](https://doi.org/10.4060/cc8138en)). See [Drought and livestock losses](/en/economy/drought-and-livestock-losses/).

In July 2026 the African Exponent, citing a World Bank document, put the national herd at about **56 million** animals ([African Exponent, 29 July 2026](https://www.africanexponent.com/how-livestock-became-somalias-first-billion-dollar-export-industry/)).

## Exports

In 2024 Somalia exported more than 6.4 million animals: 5.9 million sheep and goats, 291,692 cattle and 212,616 camels ([Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf)). From 2018 to 2024 exports totalled about 31.5 million animals, about 90 percent of them sheep and goats ([African Exponent, 2026](https://www.africanexponent.com/how-livestock-became-somalias-first-billion-dollar-export-industry/)). For values, see [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/).

## Sources disagree

Every figure above is a model or an estimate. The gap is largest for goats: FAOSTAT reports **11.6 million** and FSNAU **27.8 million** ([FAO, 2023](https://doi.org/10.4060/cc8138en)). Camel counts are closer: FAO estimates reported in 2016 gave about 7.2 million ([Gulf Times, 2016](https://www.gulf-times.com/story/522520/worlds-biggest-camel-producer-targets-mideast-exports)). See also [Camels in Somalia](/en/economy/camels-in-somalia/).

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