The fallen flock
New Zealand’s famed sheep-to-human ratio fell to a new low in 2022, dropping under 5:1 for the first time since national flock figures were first recorded in the 1850s — some way down from when the wooly creatures would regularly outnumber humans by over 20x in the nation.
Last year, the number of sheep in New Zealand fell to 25.3 million, a ~400k drop from the year before, while its (human) population experienced growth not seen since before the pandemic. This is semi-concerning news for anyone whose knowledge of New Zealand largely centers around this trivia, Lord of the Rings filming locations, Jacinda Ardern, and the All Blacks.
Counting sheep
However, a chief from the organization behind the latest data was quick to point out that the nation still retains its world-leading status on the measure, noting that “Australia currently has three times as many sheep… though their ratio is only around three sheep to every Aussie”.
New Zealand was in its peak-sheep era in the early 1980s, when the wooly number sat at 70 million and the human population was around 3.2 million. At the height of the ratio, there were enough for New Zealanders to shepherd flocks of over 22 each. With the wool industry in decline for decades — the price nearly halved from 2013-21 — farmers are reportedly looking to the greener pastures of forestry to make money, cutting the ratio dramatically.
