Humans Are Catching Up to Sheep in New Zealand

The vast number of sheep in New Zealand relative to the country's scant human population has long been the subject of jokes. It's true: The country is one of a handful in the world that's still home to more sheep than people. But humans are catching up, according to new figures released Tuesday. With a population of 23.6 million sheep and 5.3 million people, there are about 4.5 sheep for each New Zealander, government data showed. That's down from 22 sheep per person in 1982, when farming sheep for meat and wool was New Zealand's biggest earner. What's behind the change, per the AP:

• By land area: New Zealand is about the size of the United Kingdom, but it has a human population 13 times smaller. That means there's plenty of room for sheep. For close to 150 years, the sheep industry was the backbone of New Zealand's economy—peaking in 1982 when there were more than 70 million sheep and just 3.2 million people.
• The numbers: In 2023, Stats NZ, a government agency, said New Zealand in 2022 dipped below five sheep per person for the first time. The national flock had lost a million more sheep in Tuesday's figures, which were as of June 2024.
• The shift: Years of falling wool prices prompted by a global shift to synthetic fibers have led farmers to change how they use their land. Now dairy holds the biggest share of New Zealand's agriculture and horticulture-dominant export market. Toby Williams, a rep for lobby group Federated Farmers, said sheep farmers have switched to more lucrative pursuits—dairy, or the conversion of land to pine forestry in order to sell carbon offsets.

• Standout quote: "If I'm really honest, the wool industry is almost at that tipping point, if not already there, of not having a wool industry anymore," Williams said.
• Measures to bolster wool: But the government has drawn up measures to slow the decline. New government procurement guidelines urge the use of New Zealand wool products—such as carpets and insulation—in newly constructed or refurbished public buildings. But those measures are not expected to halt declining sheep numbers.
• Ditto elsewhere: Some sheep-farming countries are recording similar trends. New Zealand's closest neighbor Australia—the source of most of the sheep jokes about New Zealanders—is also home to more sheep than people, but the national flock is shrinking there, too. There are about three sheep per Australian.

(More New Zealand stories.)