Which countries fill the avian influenza gap?

While the number of poultry slaughterings in the Netherlands has remained quite stable at a lower level than 10 years ago, other countries have steadily expanded their production. Number 1 on that list is Poland, but avian influenza has thrown quite a bit of sand in the growth engine over the past year. A couple of other countries have been able to significantly increase their slaughter numbers. Are they jumping into the avian flu gap? In the European Union, six countries are responsible for the majority of poultry meat production. After number one Poland, the next largest are France, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy. Over the past year, growth in Poland came to a halt due to a series of avian influenza outbreaks. Although the number of slaughterings has strongly recovered in recent months, the sector in Northwest Europe seems sensitive to the viral disease again with the onset of autumn on the continent. Notably, Spain and France appear to be benefiting and are significantly increasing their slaughter numbers. Number of infections in Southern Europe smallerWhere in Poland (102) and Germany (75) this year a large number of commercial poultry farms were infected with avian influenza (as of November 5), these numbers were significantly lower in Spain and France. In France, 12 infections on poultry farms were reported, and in Spain, 14. This is despite the fact that the number of slaughtered broiler chickens in both countries is roughly at a similar level to Germany. This indicates that the disease pressure and risk of infections with avian influenza in these countries are considerably smaller and that the disease also has less impact on the growing poultry meat sectors in both countries. Spain grows the fastest, France followsSpain currently seems to be the quickest to seize the opportunity in the European poultry market. The country slaughtered about 549 million chicks and chickens in the first three quarters of 2025. That is significantly more than the 511 million in the same period last year. It represents an increase of 7.4%. Although still less rapidly, France is also expanding its poultry meat production. Although the slaughter figures for September are not yet known, French slaughterhouses processed 530 million chicks and chickens up to and including August, compared to 519 million in 2024 in the same period and 481 million in those months of 2023. This results in an increase of 2.1% over the past year, but 10.2% over the past two years. Other countries quite stable, Poland declinesIn the other main countries Germany (427 million) and Italy (383 million), the number of slaughterings up to and including August has remained fairly stable. Germany processed slightly more chicks, while Italy processed slightly fewer than last year. Dutch slaughterhouses processed 344 million chicks and chickens during the period up to and including August. Poland is the largest player with 827 million slaughterings. That was slightly lower than last year, when 865 million animals were processed in the same period. Especially at the beginning of the year, the number of slaughterings was lower. The total European poultry slaughter count up to and including August amounted to 4.47 billion units, slightly more than the 4.38 billion units of last year.