Now fewer than six sheep per person

Sheep numbers have dropped by 5 per cent in the year to June.

The number of sheep in New Zealand fell by 1.5 million in the year to June, Statistics New Zealand said today.

The drop of just over 5 per cent saw sheep numbers drop to 27.6 million.

Agricultural production statistics manager Stuart Pitts said that between 2006 and 2016 the number of sheep reduced from just over 40 million, a drop of around 30 per cent.

Source: Statistics New Zealand

"We now have fewer than six sheep for each person. This is down from 1982's historic high, when there were over 70 million sheep, or 22 for every person."

Beef cattle and deer numbers also fell in the year to June, but dairy cattle remained steady at 6.5 million.

The provisional figures are from the 2016 Agricultural Production Survey, conducted in partnership with the Ministry for Primary Industries.