The objective of this study was to test if birth weight (BtW) influences growth, carcass characteristics, meat quality and postmortem (pm) proteolysis differently when pigs originate from small or large litters. The results confirm that the known effect of BtW on growth performance, wheras its effect on carcass characteristic and meat quality traits could only be partially demonstrated. Although litter size affected average BtW of the lightest-BtW and average size barrows, its effect on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality was minor. This study concludes that litter size affects swine growth and carcass and meat quality through its inverse relationship with birthweight.