China's pork production in the third quarter fell 0.8% from a year earlier, government data showed on Friday, falling on an annual basis for a third consecutive quarter as poor meat consumption hampered slaughter rates, reported Reuters.

Output during June-September in the world's top pork producing nation declined to 12.59 million metric tons, a Reuters calculation based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

Meat demand has slowed in China, which consumes about half of the world's pork, with shoppers tightening their belts to cope with a sluggish economy.

"Supply pressure still exists in the market with no obvious improvement in demand ... supply and demand is at a stalemate," Beijing-based agribusiness consultancy Boyar said.

For the first nine months of the year, production fell 1.4% to 42.4 million tons.

Farmers slaughtered 520.3 million hogs during the first nine-months of the year, down 3.2% from a year earlier, the data showed.

China's pig herd size at the end of September was down 3.5% from the previous year to 426.94 million heads, the NBS data showed.

The shrinking herd size is in line with a government target to overcome an overcapacity of hogs that has depressed pork prices in recent years.

Some livestock companies turned profitable during the third quarter after three years of losses, as destocking and cost-cutting efforts helped hog prices recover, but weak demand capped the rally.

Cash hog prices fell to around a four-month low of 17.17 yuan ($2.41) per kg on Friday, after rising to 21 yuan ($2.95) in August, according to data from consultancy MySteel.

The sow herd at the end of August was down 4.8% at 40.36 million, separate data from China's agriculture ministry showed.

($1 = 7.1196 Chinese yuan renminbi)