The livestock industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors in Korean agriculture. The proportion of specialized livestock farms, which derive most of their income from livestock raising, was roughly 5.3% in 2019. Therefore, there was no clear regional concentration of livestock farm households. However, a close geographical association between the number of livestock farms and the distribution of large-scale livestock farms can be identified; the large-scale and specialized livestock farms are closely associated, reaffirming their geographical concentration. In terms of the changes in the number of major livestock farms by herd size from 1983 to 2019, the number of large-scale livestock farms has increased, while the number of small-scale livestock farms has decreased. These changes can be explained by the fact that the level of enterprising and specialization in the Korean livestock industry gradually rose. The increase in the number of large-scale livestock farms is inevitably accompanied by an increase in environmental pollution by livestock farming. As a result, the restrictions on livestock farms’ location are enhanced. Thus, it is estimated that such changes caused the regional concentration of livestock farms in Korea.

In 2020, the proportion of livestock farms in regional total agricultural farms ranked by descending order was Hoengseong-gun (13.9%), Hapcheon-gun (11.2%), Hongseong-gun (10.9%), Anseong-si (10.1%), Yeoncheon-gun (9.4%), Gongju-si (9.3%). There are regional differences in the number of livestock farms; the number of livestock farms for Korean beef cattle and beef cattle in 2020 was the highest in Gyeongsangbuk-do; the number of livestock farms for chicken in 2020 was the highest in Jeollanam-do; the number of livestock farms for pigs in 2020 was the highest in Chungcheongnam-do. In terms of the regional proportions of livestock farming in the national total, the proportions of Korean beef cattle and beef cattle ranked by descending order were: Jeongeup-si, Anseong-si, Sangju-si, Hongseong-gun, Gyeongju-si; the proportions of chicken ranked by descending order were Yeongju-si, Muan-gun, Namwon-si, Sangju-si, Jeongeup-si; the proportions of pigs ranked by descending order were Hongseong-gun, Icheon-si, Jeju-si, Jeongeup-si, Anseong-si.