Swedish pig farmers earn more despite stricter welfare rules

Swedish pig farmers earn significantly more per kilo of pork than their Danish counterparts, despite higher production costs tied to stricter animal welfare standards, according to the latest figures from Sweden’s Board of Agriculture.

A Swedish farmer receives about 18 Danish kroner per kilo of pork, compared to 11 kroner for a Danish farmer. The Swedish model includes bans on tail docking, more space per pig, and no farrowing crates for sows—measures now reflected in Denmark’s new government policy platform.

Christian Raabjerg Madsen, Denmark’s minister for nature and animal welfare, called the Swedish approach “very interesting,” noting its economic viability despite a smaller, less export-focused production scale. Sweden produces around 2.6 million pigs annually, while Denmark produces 30 million.

Peter Sandøe, a bioethics professor at the University of Copenhagen, warned that adopting similar rules could shrink Denmark’s pig production over time, as seen in Sweden after its welfare reforms in the late 1980s. “We’d end up a mini-pig nation, producing only for ourselves and Danes too cheap to buy imported pork,” he said.

Danish pig producer H.C. Gæmelke, chair of the Pig Sector at Agriculture & Food, said Danish farmers already meet or exceed Swedish standards for some products, but lack domestic consumer demand. “We have the systems. We just need consumers to choose them,” he said, urging dialogue with retailers to shift purchasing habits.

Anna Wallenbeck, a researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, noted that Swedish pig farmers faced severe competition after joining the EU in 1995, when cheaper Danish pork entered the market. She said replicating the Swedish model in Denmark would require major investment and a market willing to pay premium prices.