Chicken has become a global success story. It is now the most globalized meat, ahead of pork and beef, even though less than half a century ago, chickens were primarily raised for egg production before it was discovered that their meat was easy to produce, easy to sell, and suited the culinary traditions of virtually every culture and religion. Fast-food chains did the rest, and today chicken is also praised for the quality of its protein. The number of chickens raised and slaughtered worldwide increased from 48.3 billion in 2006 to 76.2 billion in 2023, representing 105 million tonnes of ready-to-eat meat in the latter year. However, the extraordinary growth of this production could be somewhat constrained by ethical and environmental concerns.
Several factors explain this success:
- Relatively low prices:
chicken has a very short production cycle. It takes only a few weeks to raise a broiler chicken. Antibiotics have helped chickens grow rapidly and shortened the production cycle, contributing to a dramatic fall in prices. - Cultural adaptability:
unlike pork or beef, chicken is subject to relatively few religious restrictions. Extremely versatile, chicken can be prepared in countless ways and is compatible with virtually all cultural and religious traditions. - Nutritional image:
chicken, particularly breast meat, is generally perceived as relatively lean and rich in protein, a major advantage at a time when protein-rich foods are enjoying growing popularity worldwide. - Urbanization and the growth of the middle classes:
in many emerging countries, chicken became the first affordable meat as incomes began to rise. Eating habits do not change quickly, but chicken has gone from being a marginal food in the 1930s to an everyday consumer product. - Rapid industrialization of the poultry industry:
genetic selection, intensive farming, slaughtering and cold-chain development have significantly reduced costs. Chicken also has the advantage of being easy to cut into portions and is almost entirely consumable. - Globalization of production and trade:
a handful of major producers and exporters now supply a significant share of the global market. The largest exporters include Brazil, with 4.8 million tonnes of chicken meat in 2024, the United States with 3.15 million tonnes and, in Europe, Poland with 1.21 million tonnes and the Netherlands with 1.06 million tonnes. Major importers include China, with 0.93 million tonnes, and Mexico, with 1.05 million tonnes. Global production increased by around 2% per year over the past two decades, compared with approximately 3% today. - Growing demand in both wealthy and emerging countries:
global demand is increasing, driven in particular by rising beef prices, growing interest in protein-rich foods and the expansion of fast-food chains. Consider that KFC, the global fast-food chain specializing in fried chicken, has 13,454 outlets in China alone! - Food security and food sovereignty concerns:
because it is easy and relatively inexpensive to produce, chicken responds well to both concerns. Countries in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, as well as those in Southeast Asia, are investing heavily in the poultry industry. Production is gradually shifting from global to local. In Africa, population growth, urbanization and rising consumption of animal protein are making chicken a strategic product. However, imports of low-cost frozen chicken can put local poultry farmers under considerable pressure.
The Limits of Unrestrained Growth
Does this mean that chicken production will continue to grow indefinitely? That is far from certain. Industrial chicken farming has created an environment in which diseases such as avian influenza can spread extremely rapidly. Moreover, while chicken production obviously generates fewer greenhouse gas emissions than beef production, the sheer quantities now being produced are beginning to raise concerns. In the United Kingdom, a court blocked the construction of a poultry farm on the grounds that chicken manure should not be considered a recyclable by-product but rather a waste product.
Animal welfare advocates, meanwhile, denounce the conditions associated with intensive poultry farming and have coined the term “Frankenchicken” to describe birds bred for extremely rapid growth. Their concerns are not only being heard by the courts. Public opinion can also mobilize against large-scale projects, as happened in Croatia, where opposition succeeded in stopping a major Ukrainian poultry farming project.
The global success of chicken is a rare example of the convergence of agriculture, international trade, nutrition, environmental concerns, food security and geopolitics. However, the industry will probably have to reinvent itself, particularly in terms of land use and the development of new, more “ethical” industrial production methods.
