Around 975 million pigs are currently bred worldwide and numbers have not changed much over the last decade. As pig numbers have evolved, so has pig meat production. In 2021, world pig meat production was 120 million tonnes, of which 23.7 million tonnes were in the EU. On average, over the last 10 years, the EU-27 has achieved a relatively high level of self-sufficiency in pig meat production, ranging from 114% in 2014 to 126% in 2020. However, there are significant differences between EU countries in terms of pig meat production and consumption, leading to significant differences in the level of self-sufficiency. Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands had the highest levels of self-sufficiency in 2021, while Slovakia, Bulgaria and Greece had the lowest. The Czech Republic has not been self-sufficient in production for a long time. The reason for the low self-sufficiency is primarily the economic disadvantage of pig farming in the Czech Republic resulting from rising input prices (especially feed components) and the unstable development of farm gate prices. In the current conditions, only some top farms seem to be able to maintain positive profitability, while a number of others are forced to close down their activities due to economic pressure. The most economically important factor affecting profitability is the farm gate price. The farm gate price for slaughter pigs has not developed uniformly in the EU in recent years, but has fluctuated according to supply and demand, influenced also by the global situation in the sector.