Meat production fell by three per cent, to 3,093 tonnes, in the last three months of 2012, official statistics show.
Yet producer value increased by 9.1 per cent compared with the same period in 2011.
Beef production grew by 22 per cent while broiler meat, which includes poultry offal – with the exception of foie gras – increased by six per cent. Pig meat dropped by 12 per cent.
The increase in beef production resulted from a 17.4 per cent rise in the number of slaughtered cattle. In contrast, the number of slaughtered pigs fell by 2,837 in spite of a marginal increase of 0.9 per cent in the average carcass weight.
The producer value of animals killed at licensed slaughterhouses in the period under review amounted to €6.9 million, or 9.1 per cent above that in the fourth quarter of 2011.