* Rising feed costs and disease outbreaks threaten profitability, demanding improved strategies and supply chain integration
International experts recorded that the global poultry sector is a massive, fast-growing part of the food system, driven by population growth, rising incomes, and changing dietary preferences. Statistics showed that the global market revenue was an estimated $379 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow to $494.55 billion by 2028. This sector particularly in developing countries, has become the fastest-growing agricultural sub-sector.
| Pakistan: Estimated Domestic/Rural & Commercial Poultry | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Details | 2022-231 | 2023-241 | 2024-251 |
| Domestic Poultry (million Nos.) | 94.04 | 95.50 | 96.98 |
| Cocks (million Nos.) | 13.55 | 13.92 | 14.30 |
| Hens (million Nos.) | 46.34 | 47.17 | 48.02 |
| Chicken (million Nos.) | 34.15 | 34.41 | 34.66 |
| Eggs2 ( million Nos. ) | 4634 | 4717 | 4802 |
| Meat (000 Tons ) | 132.36 | 135.01 | 137.72 |
| Duck, Drake & Duckling (million Nos.) | 0.34 | 0.32 | 0.31 |
| Eggs2 (million Nos.) | 15.12 | 14.49 | 13.89 |
| Meat (000 Tons ) | 0.46 | 0.44 | 0.42 |
| Commercial Poultry (million Nos.) | 1632.06 | 1792.46 | 1968.71 |
| Layers (million Nos.) | 73.28 | 78.41 | 83.90 |
| Broilers (million Nos.) | 1,703.36 | 1,873.69 | 2,061.06 |
| Breeding Stock (million Nos.) | 15.81 | 16.61 | 17.44 |
| Day Old Chicks (million Nos.) | 1,779.16 | 1,957.07 | 2,152.78 |
| Eggs2 (million Nos.) | 19,170 | 20,480 | 21,880 |
| Meat (000 Tons ) | 2027.57 | 2226.54 | 2445.14 |
| Total Poultry | |||
| Day Old Chicks (million Nos.) | 1,813 | 1,991 | 2,187 |
| Poultry Birds (million Nos.) | 1,887 | 2,065 | 2,260 |
| Eggs (million Nos.) | 23,819 | 25,212 | 26,696 |
| Poultry Meat (000 Tons) | 2,160 | 2,362 | 2,583 |
| 1: The figures for the indicated years are statistically calculated using the statistics for 2005-06.2:
The figures for Eggs (Farming) and Eggs (Desi) are calculated using the poultry parameters for egg production. |
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The USA, Brazil, and China are the top three producers of chicken meat. Global consumption is rising, driven by poultry’s affordability and its role in meeting demand from a growing population. The sector provides career opportunities to millions of people globally and is crucial for poverty alleviation, mainly for smallholders who can sell birds during crises. The sector has evolved with the introduction of modern, intensive farming methods, genetic improvements, and better disease control measures. As per the government of Pakistan, the poultry sector remains one of the most vibrant and rapidly evolving components of Pakistan’s livestock industry. Employing over 1.5 million people nationwide, it contributes significantly to both rural livelihoods and national food security. In FY 2025, the sector’s gross value added is estimated at Rs 923.5 billion, reflecting its dynamic role in the agricultural economy. With an average annual growth rate of 8.1 percent over the past decade, our country has emerged as the 11th largest poultry producer worldwide, demonstrating its strong potential for continued expansion and modernization.
The sector presently total meat production, signifying its vital role in meeting the country’s protein needs. However, the sector also faces persistent challenges, including frequent disease outbreaks, volatile market situations, and rising feed and production costs, threatening profitability and sustainability. Addressing these structural bottlenecks through improved biosecurity, enhanced supply chain integration, and supportive strategies is essential for ensuring the sector’s long-term resilience and growth. Our experts analyzed that the poultry sector reveals steady growth across both local and commercial poultry categories during FY2025.
Total poultry bird population is projected to reach 2.26 expansion, estimated at 2.06 billion birds. Similarly, day-old chick production is expected to rise by 9.8 percent to 2.19 billion, showing robust forward integration in the breeding and hatchery segments. Poultry meat production is forecast to grow to 2.58 million tons, a rise of 9.4 percent. Egg production is also expected to reach 26.7 billion, up from 25.2 billion previous year, reflecting improvements in rural poultry shows modest gains, commercial production remains the main growth driver, highlighting the sector’s increasing commercialization. These upward trends not only reinforce poultry’s critical role in our country’s food supply chain but also highlight the need for continued investment in feed quality and value chain efficiencies to maintain this momentum.
| Do You Know About Poultry? | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1- The United States of America is the world’s largest poultry meat producer, with 17 percent of global output, followed by China and Brazil. | 2- China is by far the world’s largest egg producer, with 38 percent of global production, followed by the United States (7 percent) and India (7 percent). | 3- Poultry is raised by approximately 80 percent of rural households in developing countries. |
| 4- Asia is the largest egg-producing region, with more than 64 percent of global output. | 5- To meet growing demand, world poultry meat production soared from 9 to 133 million tons between 1961 and 2020, and egg production shot up from 15 to 93 million tons. | 6- In the last three decades, world egg production has increased by 150 percent. Much of this growth has been in Asia, where production increased almost fourfold. |
| 7- In 2020, poultry meat represented almost 40 percent of global meat production. | ||