The sheep population in Malta increased by 0.4 per cent last year while that of goats declined by 5.9 per cent over 2008, the NSO said today.

In December, the sheep population amounted to 12,889 heads. Lambs and ewe lambs registered a decline of 31.5 per cent and 35 per cent respectively, while ewes and male sheep added 9.6 per cent and 19.6 per cent respectively over the previous year.

On a regional level, 69.1 per cent of all sheep were located on holdings in Malta, with the remaining 3,980 heads (30.9 per cent) in Gozo and Comino. Over the comparative period, the sheep stock increased by 2.8 per cent in Malta while a decline of 4.7 per cent was registered in Gozo and Comino.

In 2009, 1,488 holdings were engaged in the rearing of sheep. Just over three quarters of all holdings rearing sheep had less than 10 heads. These accounted for a total 3,888 sheep or 30.2 per cent of the total. On the other hand, only 24.6 per cent of all holdings had more than 10 sheep. These holdings comprised 9,001 heads, or 69.8 per cent of the stock.

The decline in the goat population, which stood at 5,983 at the end of 2009 was due to a drop in kids (-53.2 per cent), and goats mated for the first time (-47.3 per cent). On the other hand, goats that have already kidded and male goats rose by 5.5 per cent and 8.3 per cent respectively.

In comparison to 2008, the goat population decreased by 7.2 per cent in Malta and by 0.9 per cent in Gozo and Comino. Overall, 4,706 goats (78.7 per cent) were found on Maltese holdings, including 1,455 heads in the South Eastern District.

The goat population in Gozo and Comino amounted to 1,277 heads, or 21.3 per cent of the total stock.

In 2009, 885 holdings were engaged in the rearing of goats. Of these, 83.4 per cent had less than 10 goats, and accounted for 38.3 per cent of the total stock.

In contrast, 16.6 per cent of all holdings had more than 10 heads, with a combined total of 3,692 goats, or 61.7 per cent of the total population.