EU poultry meat exports reflect supply shortages

The scarcity of poultry meat in Europe is reflected in the export figures for 2025. Imports have taken a step back, while exports have slightly decreased. This is mainly due to problems in the main exporting country, Poland. One country is managing to benefit from this and has become the new number three import market in Europe. The European import of poultry meat increased by 3.5% in 2025 to 835,564 tonnes. A significant portion of that was imported in the last month. Exports totaled 76,628 tonnes in December, a remarkable 36.1% increase compared to the previous year, marking the greatest export for that month since 2015. The European Union exported 760,420 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2025, just 1.3% more compared to the previous year. This increase can be attributed to additional imports from Brazil, as imports from the country were stagnant during the summer. Meanwhile, the relatively low demand led to a 2.4% decrease in exports to 1,951,123 tonnes. The reason for this is simple. This is primarily due to a decline in the export of Polish chicken, resulting from a shortage of hatching eggs during that period. Although exports were higher in 2024, even less was exported in the previous two years. Thailand benefits from increased importsWhen looking at imports by destination, there are few surprises. Brazil clearly ranks first with an export of 210,438 tonnes. This represents a 6% decrease in imports, which is a relatively limited drop given the issues with both Newcastle Disease and avian influenza this year. In other words, the Brazilian market has proven resilient. This is particularly due to a very substantial import in December. Exports are generally quite low during that month, but this year imports were as much as 81.5% higher than a year ago, with a volume of 28,834 tonnes. That is even the highest volume of the year. Imports from the United Kingdom also decreased slightly. Exports fell by 2.3% to 192,411 tonnes. As we will see shortly, however, the trade balance for the country has improved, as imports decreased more sharply, indicating a stronger focus on domestic production. Against the declines, there was an increase in imports from Ukraine. Imports rose by 2.1% to 165,997 tonnes. Yet Ukraine is not the biggest winner of the tight European market and the lower exports from Brazil. That distinction goes to Thailand, with an increase in exports of no less than 16.1% to 168,631 tonnes, allowing the Asian country to overtake Ukraine as the second-largest importer. In relative terms, the increase in imports from China was even stronger. Imports from the Asian country rose by as much as 26.4% to 72,999 tonnes. Polish exports remain the largest, but decline sharplyPoland remains by far the largest exporter, although the country’s exports have decreased significantly this year compared to a year ago. Exports fell by 8.8% to 687,305 tonnes. Since February, exports to third countries have consistently been lower than the year before. Only in November were imports higher. This is due to significant issues within the Polish supply chain. Due to a shortage of hatching eggs, producing poultry meat in Poland became considerably more expensive, decreasing competitiveness. When the hatching egg supply chain recovered in the last months of the year, exports to third countries also lagged behind as Poland focused primarily on the European market due to competition with Brazil. As a result, Poland's share of European chicken meat exports dropped from 37.7% to 35.2%. The Dutch export, on the other hand, increased for the first time since 2018. Exports rose by 3.3% from 425,014 tonnes to 438,964 tonnes. However, exports are still at the lowest level since more than fifteen years after 2024. Against this Pyrrhic victory is the fact that Dutch chicken sales in third countries still clearly take the second place. The Netherlands still accounts for 22.5% of total EU exports. The difference with Belgium, the third largest, is substantial. That country exported 140,180 tonnes, 7.2% of the total. United Kingdom dominates exportsWhen looking at total exports, it is immediately noticeable that the exports from Great Britain still overwhelmingly dominate the total exports. Exports amount to 681,400 tonnes, accounting for 34.9% of total exports. Although there is a decrease of 1.4%, exports are still very significant. The strength of the European Union is clearly the diversity of its markets. The second largest exporter was Ghana, with exports of 169,311 tonnes. This market has a clearly smaller share of 8.7%. Next are the Democratic Republic of Congo with 127,849 tonnes, the Philippines with 67,296 tonnes, and Vietnam with 56,527 tonnes. Notably, there is an increase in exports to the two African destinations in the top 5. Exports to Ghana rose by 14% and exports to the Democratic Republic of Congo increased by 20%.