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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0PLOS One

Equid population dynamics in Mexico over five decades: Divergence between national census records and FAOSTAT estimates

  • Elena García-Seco1
  • Miguel Alonso-Díaz2
  • Tamara Tadich3
  • Ramiro E. Toribio4
  • Francisco Galindo5
  • Mariano Hernández-Gil
5 affiliations
  1. 1Departamento de Medicina, Cirugía y Zootecnia para Équidos, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México City, México
  2. 2Centro de Enseñanza, Investigación y Extensión en Ganadería Tropical (CEIEGT). Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Tlapacoyan, Veracruz, México
  3. 3Programa de Équidos, Instituto de Ciencia Animal, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
  4. 4College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America
  5. 5Departamento de Etología, Fauna Silvestre y Animales de Laboratorio, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México City, México
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Abstract

Equid populations are widely used to inform animal health, welfare, and rural development strategies, yet their interpretation depends on how animals are counted, classified, and reported. Using a repeated cross-sectional analysis of national census records, this study examined long-term changes in Mexico’s equid population and evaluated the consistency between national Agricultural Census records and FAOSTAT livestock statistics. Data for horses, donkeys, and mules were obtained from the Mexican Agricultural Censuses of 1970, 1991, 2007, and 2022, accounting for changes in how equids and their working functions were recorded over time. The total equid population recorded within Mexican Agricultural Production Units — which does not represent Mexico’s overall equid population — declined from 6.82 million animals in 1970 to 1.60 million in 2022, a reduction of 76.5%. Donkeys showed the greatest decline (90.1%), followed by mules (84.1%) and horses (62.0%). In contrast, the census-recorded working-equid population increased by 37.1% between 2007 and 2022, driven predominantly by a 73.0% increase in working horses. Comparison with FAOSTAT revealed a progressively widening discrepancy: the FAOSTAT-to-census ratio increased from 1.82 in 1970 to 8.11 in 2022, with FAOSTAT indicating a 4.5% increase over the same period and observations shifting from official (1970) to estimated (1991, 2007) and imputed (2022). These findings demonstrate a major long-term transformation of Mexico’s equid population while also showing that equids remain functionally important within contemporary agricultural systems, particularly through the increasing contribution of working horses. The marked divergence between national census records and FAOSTAT further highlights the importance of considering census definitions, functional classifications, statistical status, and data provenance when equid population estimates are used for research, veterinary planning, animal-welfare interventions, or public policy.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{garciaseco2026equid,
  title = {{Equid population dynamics in Mexico over five decades: Divergence between national census records and FAOSTAT estimates}},
  author = {Elena García-Seco and Miguel Alonso-Díaz and Tamara Tadich and Ramiro E. Toribio and Francisco Galindo and Mariano Hernández-Gil},
  journal = {PLOS One},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0348247},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0348247},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Equid population dynamics in Mexico over five decades: Divergence between national census records and FAOSTAT estimates
AU  - Elena García-Seco
AU  - Miguel Alonso-Díaz
AU  - Tamara Tadich
AU  - Ramiro E. Toribio
AU  - Francisco Galindo
AU  - Mariano Hernández-Gil
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/05
JO  - PLOS One
DO  - 10.1371/journal.pone.0348247
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0348247
AB  - Equid populations are widely used to inform animal health, welfare, and rural development strategies, yet their interpretation depends on how animals are counted, classified, and reported. Using a repeated cross-sectional analysis of national census records, this study examined long-term changes in Mexico’s equid population and evaluated the consistency between national Agricultural Census records and FAOSTAT livestock statistics. Data for horses, donkeys, and mules were obtained from the Mexican Agricultural Censuses of 1970, 1991, 2007, and 2022, accounting for changes in how equids and their working functions were recorded over time. The total equid population recorded within Mexican Agricultural Production Units — which does not represent Mexico’s overall equid population — declined from 6.82 million animals in 1970 to 1.60 million in 2022, a reduction of 76.5%. Donkeys showed the greatest decline (90.1%), followed by mules (84.1%) and horses (62.0%). In contrast, the census-recorded working-equid population increased by 37.1% between 2007 and 2022, driven predominantly by a 73.0% increase in working horses. Comparison with FAOSTAT revealed a progressively widening discrepancy: the FAOSTAT-to-census ratio increased from 1.82 in 1970 to 8.11 in 2022, with FAOSTAT indicating a 4.5% increase over the same period and observations shifting from official (1970) to estimated (1991, 2007) and imputed (2022). These findings demonstrate a major long-term transformation of Mexico’s equid population while also showing that equids remain functionally important within contemporary agricultural systems, particularly through the increasing contribution of working horses. The marked divergence between national census records and FAOSTAT further highlights the importance of considering census definitions, functional classifications, statistical status, and data provenance when equid population estimates are used for research, veterinary planning, animal-welfare interventions, or public policy.
SN  - 1932-6203
ER  -