Wellington, New Zealand - New Zealand's large sheep relative to the country's insufficient population has long been a joke against New Zealanders abroad. Indeed: This country is one of the few sheep in the world.

But, according to new data released on Tuesday, humans are catching up. According to the Government Statistics Bureau data, the sheep population of each New Zealander is 23.6 million sheep and 5.3 million, with about 4.5 sheep.

This is a decrease from 22 sheep per person in 1982, when meat and wool sheep were the largest income in New Zealand. Now, wool prices have fallen for years due to the global shift to synthetic fibers, which has allowed farmers to change their role on the land.

In the land area, New Zealand is about the size of the UK, but the population is 13 times smaller than that of the UK, which means there is plenty of room for sheep.

The sheep industry has been the backbone of New Zealand's economy for nearly 150 years, with a booming number - reaching its peak in 1982, when there were more than 70 million sheep and only 3.2 million people. Before the "King of the Rings" brought a wave of tourists, the images of green green fields dominated by snow-capped marketing of snow-capped mountains that occupied foreign countries.

But for years, the global wool price has fallen, despite the recent rally - the national flock has been steadily declining. Dairy now has the largest share of the export market in which New Zealand agriculture and horticulture dominates.

In 2023, government agency NZ Stats NZ said New Zealand had fallen five sheep for the first time in 2022. The nation's flock lost one million sheep in Tuesday's figures, which recorded the livestock figures as of June 2024.

Toby Williams, a spokesman for the Department Lobby Group federal farmers, said sheep farmers have switched to more profitable pursuits - dairy products, or transforming land from agriculture to Pine Forestry to sell carbon mass.

“If I’m really honest, the wool industry is almost at that turning point (even if not) no longer owns the wool industry,” he said.

The government has put in place measures aimed at slowing down, including a 2024 announcement that they will limit the size of farmland that can be transformed into carbon forestry.

New government procurement guidelines released in April urge the use of New Zealand wool products (such as carpets and insulation) in newly built or renovated public buildings. However, these measures are not expected to stop the decline in sheep populations.

Some countries on sheep farms are recording similar trends. New Zealand's closest neighbor, Australia (the source of most jokes about New Zealanders) is also home to more sheep than people, but the ethnic flocks are also shrinking there.

The gap is small: Australians have about three sheep.