‘How many sheep and goats does Greece actually have?’ SYRIZA challenges official figures

In a joint statement, the party’s Agricultural Policy Department and its sector head, Theofilos Xanthopoulos, said that for 2025 the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) recorded approximately 8.8 million sheep and goats, while the Integrated Veterinary Information System listed 15.7 million.

The discrepancy between the two official state sources amounts to almost 7 million animals.

SYRIZA said the gap is particularly significant because livestock data are directly linked to inspections, European agricultural subsidies and the planning of livestock policy.

‘A new POLITICO investigation raises serious questions about the reliability of the data on which controls, agricultural subsidies and the very design of livestock policy are based.’

The party argued that the discrepancy cannot be dismissed as a purely technical or statistical issue because the figures are used in the supervision of livestock farming, inspections and the payment of European aid.

‘This difference cannot be treated as a simple statistical discrepancy. It concerns data directly linked to the supervision of livestock farming, controls and the payment of European aid, at a time when the OPEKEPE scandal has already highlighted serious weaknesses in the system.’

SYRIZA also raised broader questions about the credibility of livestock policy planning.

The party argued that without consistent and reliable data on the country’s actual livestock population, it becomes difficult to properly plan subsidies, livestock production and measures for the prevention and treatment of animal diseases.

‘However, there is another essential issue: without reliable and commonly accepted data on the country’s actual livestock, no serious agricultural policy can be designed. Neither for subsidies, nor for livestock production, nor for the prevention and treatment of animal diseases.’

SYRIZA also referred to government announcements on greater transparency and new electronic animal identification tools, arguing that the government must first provide answers about the reliability of the existing data before moving to what it has described as a ‘new era’.

‘The government talks about a “new era” of transparency and announces new electronic animal identification tools. But before we move into the “new era”, it must answer some very simple questions:

‘How many sheep and goats does Greece actually have?

‘Why do two official systems show a discrepancy of millions of animals and has their data been fully cross-referenced?

‘And, most importantly, with what data were the controls carried out and the aid paid until now?’

The party directly linked these questions to the OPEKEPE scandal and demanded clear answers about how inspections have been conducted and European agricultural aid distributed to date.

‘After the OPEKEPE scandal, the answer cannot be that no one knows for sure how many animals there are in the country.’

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