European Union: Poultry and Products Semi-annual

Despite ongoing avian influenza outbreaks and increasing competition from imports, strong internal EU demand will drive chicken meat production in 2024. While inflation continues to be a concern, production costs of chicken meat remain generally lower compared to other animal protein. EU chicken meat imports increased by 2.3 percent in 2023 and further growth is expected in 2024, driven by a strong demand in the HRI sector. EU imports of Ukrainian chicken meat grew by 50 percent in 2023 due to the temporary EU free-trade measures supporting Ukraine. EU chicken meat exports decreased by 2 percent in 2023. Trade restrictions due to avian influenza exacerbate the lower price competitiveness of EU chicken meat relative to other world suppliers. However, trade is expected to stabilize in 2024.