New Zealand's ratio of sheep to people has dropped beneath 5 to 1 - the bottom ever recorded.

The nation of simply over 5 million is known for just a few issues - amongst them, the All Blacks, Jacinda Ardern and having extra sheep than folks.

But flocks have been declining for the reason that peak sheep days of the Nineteen Eighties, when there have been 22 sheep for each particular person.

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In 2022, the nationwide sheep flock tallied 25.3 million, based on Stats NZ - a lower of 400,000 on the earlier 12 months.

National sheep numbers have been first recorded within the 1850s. This marks the primary time the ratio has dropped beneath 5 to 1, stated Jason Attewell​, Stats NZ basic supervisor of financial and setting insights.

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"Australia currently has three times as many sheep as New Zealand, though their ratio is only around three sheep to every Aussie," he added.

Declining sheep numbers are right down to a variety of things, together with a shift from wool to artificial supplies and promoting farmland for forestry.