Land, farming and livestock
Meat, hides and skins: Somalia's livestock products
Somalia sells most of its animals abroad alive, but it also exports chilled meat by air and hides and skins by sea. Fresh meat exports were worth about USD 16 million in 2023 and nearly tripled to USD 13.7 million in the first quarter of 2025 alone. Somaliland exported about 1,200 tonnes of skins and 700 tonnes of hides in 2015, mainly to Pakistan, India, China and Turkey. Together with live animals, livestock exports passed USD 1 billion in 2024.
Meat exports
The African Exponent, citing the Central Bank's quarterly reports, gives these values for fresh meat exports (African Exponent, 29 July 2026):
| Period | Meat exports |
|---|---|
| 2023 | About USD 16 million |
| Last quarter of 2024 | USD 4.95 million |
| First quarter of 2025 | USD 13.7 million |
Adding meat, hides and skins to live animals took total livestock export earnings to an estimated USD 1.03 billion in 2024, according to the same report, citing the Somali Development and Reconstruction Bank. See Livestock exports.
How the chilled meat trade works
A 2012 study by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Terra Nuova mapped the chilled meat chain, from herders to exporters who fly carcasses to the Gulf (Negassa and others, ILRI Research Report 32, 2012). It found:
- A grading system for slaughter animals that traders widely recognise.
- Only exporters understood the health and safety rules of importing countries.
- Exporters paid mainly by carcass weight; agents paid per live animal.
- Exporters and agents had long-term ties, while herders sold for cash, deal by deal.
- Goats were more profitable to trade, and bigger operators had lower costs.
- Lack of money to invest was the main barrier traders named.
Hides and skins
A study by Terra Nuova, ILRI and the IGAD Sheikh Technical Veterinary School mapped the hides and skins trade in Somaliland in 2016, in Borama, Gabiley, Hargeisa, Berbera, Burao, Las Anod and Erigavo (Terra Nuova, 23 February 2017). It found:
- In 2015, Somaliland exported about 1,200 tonnes of skins (dried and "wet blue", a first stage of tanning) and 700 tonnes of hides.
- Buyers were in Pakistan, India, China and Turkey.
- Up to 30 percent of goods were rejected for low quality.
UN trade data compiled by the OEC show Somalia's exports of "other hides and skins" in 2022 at about USD 1.19 million, almost all to Pakistan (OEC). Hides and skins exports rose 43 percent in the first quarter of 2025, the African Exponent reported, without giving a value.
Bones and tallow
In Somaliland, bones from slaughterhouses and butchers are made into jewellery and household items, and fat (tallow) into soap. ILRI found the two chains directly employed more than 150 people and supported about 1,000. Soap sold for about USD 0.5 a bar, and in 2014 the tallow and soap chain was worth about USD 150,000 to the groups making it (ILRI, 25 January 2019). The same article puts Somaliland's 2014 live exports at 3.4 million animals.
Sources
- African Exponent, 29 July 2026 · africanexponent.com
- Negassa and others, ILRI Research Report 32, 2012 · cgspace.cgiar.org
- Terra Nuova, 23 February 2017 · terranuova.org
- OEC · oec.world
- ILRI, 25 January 2019 · ilri.org
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Where this matters
- Muqdisho (Mogadishu) and BanaadirMogadishu (Muqdisho) is Somalia's capital and makes up the Banadir region, with about 2.97 million people in 20 districts.
- Hargeysa (Hargeisa) and Woqooyi GalbeedWoqooyi Galbeed is the north-western region that holds Hargeisa (Hargeysa) and the port of Berbera, with about 1 to 1.45 million people.
- Laascaanood (Las Anod) and SoolSool is a region in the north with Las Anod (Laascaanood) as its capital and about 571,000 people.
- Gaalkacyo (Galkayo) and MudugMudug is a region of central Somalia with about 1.5 million people, split between Puntland in the north and Galmudug in the south.
Same era
- Australia18,401 people of Somali ancestry and 8,101 born in Somalia lived in Australia at the 2021 Census, more than half in Victoria. History, work, issues.
- Birmingham (Somali diaspora)About 17,000 to 21,600 Somalis live in Birmingham (Census 2021), mostly in Nechells, Newtown, Small Heath and Alum Rock. History, work, health and ties home.
- Bristol (Somali diaspora)9,167 people in Bristol identified as Somali or Somalilander in Census 2021, the city's largest minority group. Where they live, work, housing, leaders and ties home.
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada2,845 people of Somali origin lived in Calgary at the 2021 Census, plus 890 in Brooks. How they came, who serves them and what they face.
- Denmark (Somali diaspora)21,885 people of Somali origin lived in Denmark in 2026, half born there. Numbers, history, work, permit reviews, and ties home.
- DjiboutiAbout 13,900 refugees from Somalia live in Djibouti (Aug 2026): numbers since 1990, Ali Addeh, Holl-Holl, the 2017 refugee law, Arta 2000 and 2025 returns.
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- 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.
- Camels in Somalia: the world's largest herdCamels in Somalia in facts: herd size, share of the world's camels, camel milk, exports to the Gulf, the 2016 to 2018 export fall at Berbera, and the first camel milk yoghurt factory.
- Blackheaded Somali sheep: the breed behind the livestock tradeThe Blackheaded Somali sheep: what it looks like, where it is kept, why it suits dry land, its role in exports through Berbera and Bosaso, and the breeds descended from it.
- Cattle in Somalia: Boran and the Somali breedsCattle in Somalia: numbers, where they are kept, the Boran breed and the Somali Boran, the large red cattle traded to Kenya, cattle exports and milk.
- The Somali goat: breed, milk and tradeThe Somali goat in facts: what it looks like, where it is kept, milk yield in drought, meat exports with sheep, and what DAD-IS records about the breed.