European poultry imports break another record in April

European chicken prices have been returning to more normal levels over the past few months. The main reason for this trend is the strong increase in imports. In the first four months of the year, imports increased significantly. As a result, import growth has remained strong.European chicken imports reached a record level in the first four months of the year. Compared to the same period in 2025, imports increased by 4.4% to 315,398 tonnes. This brought imports to their highest level in the past ten years. The increase compared to last year amounted to 13,434 tonnes. Although the growth rate was more moderate than in some previous years, the import volume remains substantial. Compared to the ten-year average, imports were 22.4% higher.The main importing countries together showed a moderate year-on-year increase through April. The Netherlands remained by far the largest importing country, with imports remaining almost unchanged at 178,172 tonnes, up only 0.5% compared to 2025. Spain also increased, by 6.2% to 21,402 tonnes, while Austria showed a stronger rise of 21% to 15,806 tonnes.The biggest shifts came from Germany, Poland and France. German imports increased sharply by 53.5% to 23,208 tonnes, making Germany one of the main drivers of the overall increase. Poland also showed a very large rise, with imports up 72.5% to 8,037 tonnes, although volumes remain much smaller than in the Netherlands or Ireland. On the other hand, France recorded the largest decline, falling by 23.6% to 13,679 tonnes, while Ireland decreased by 8% to 26,747 tonnes. Overall, the strong growth in Germany, Poland and Austria more than offset the declines in France and Ireland.Looking at the main countries of origin, there was a clear increase in imports from the five largest source countries compared to last year through April. Combined imports from Brazil, Ukraine, Thailand, the United Kingdom and China increased by 5% to 309,196 tonnes. Brazil was the main driver of this growth, with imports rising by 29% to 117,004 tonnes, reaching a new record level. Ukraine also increased, by 12% to 64,354 tonnes. At this level, imports reached their third-highest level on record and are very close to the level of 2024, before import restrictions were introduced. Meanwhile, Thai imports rose by 6% to 58,037 tonnes. Meanwhile, imports from the United Kingdom fell sharply by 31% to 43,559 tonnes. This is because the UK, like the EU, has had a very tight market in recent months. China also declined, by 5.8% to 26,242 tonnes, although volumes remained high compared to earlier years. This decline created room for the other three major suppliers to increase their exports to the EU.