In 1982 there were over 70 million sheep.

Once, there were 22 sheep for every person in NZ. Now there are only 6 for each of us.

Figures from the Agricultural Production Survey 2016, released today by Statistics New Zealand, show the number of sheep fell by 1.5 million, down to 27.6m, between June 2015 and June 2016.

Over the last decade the national flock has decreased by more than 40m, a drop of around 30 per cent.

Agricultural production statistics manager Stuart Pitts said the country now has fewer than six sheep per person.

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"This is down from 1982's historic high, when there were over 70 million sheep, or 22 for every person."

Beef cattle and deer numbers also fell, while the number of dairy cattle remained steady at 6.5m.

Sheep farmers switched to dairy farming en masse and by 1987 it had overtaken sheep farming.