Major Poultry-Producing Countries

By Mississippi State University, taken from the Economic Impact of the Mississippi Poultry Industry — 2007.
calendar icon 13 August 2007
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Major Poultry-Producing Countries

Because Mississippi’s poultry industry is a major player on the world poultry market, events occurring in foreign countries affect the state’s industry. The U.S. led the world in poultry production with more than 16.1 million metric tons in 2006. China was second to the U.S., and its production is increasing. While China is a relatively poor country, its population is more than 1 billion, and its people eat chicken whenever it is available. Even small increases in per-capita consumption in China cause large changes in demand for chicken.

Brazil, which is the third-largest poultry producer, is a major player in the world poultry market. It has the needed grain production to feed chickens and has an ample supply of labor to grow and process the birds. It also has access to the same technology found in U.S. plants.

Table 8. Total Poultry Meat Production by Country.
Country 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
United States 14,467 14,696 15,286 15,869 16,162
China (PRC) 9,558 9,898 9,998 10,200 10,350
Brazil 7,449 7,645 8,408 9,350 9,280
European Union 7,788 7,512 7,627 7,736 7,425
Other European Countries 6,882 6,035 6,064 6,516 6,758
Mexico 2,157 2,290 2,389 2,498 2,610
India 1,400 1,500 1,650 1,900 2,000
Argentina 640 750 910 1,030 1,210
Japan 1,107 1,127 1,124 1,166 1,195
Russian Federation 500 560 650 900 1,080
Thailand 1,275 1,340 900 950 1,050
Canada 932 929 946 977 970
Total 54,155 54,282 55,952 59,092 60,090
These figures represent thousands of metric tons of ready-to-cook (RTC) equivalent products.

Source: USDA Foreign Agriculture Service.


U.S. Broiler Exports

The U.S. consumer usually prefers white chicken meat. Dark chicken meat is often sold on the export market. During 2006, the United States exported more than 5.2 billion pounds of poultry products throughout the world with an export value greater than $2.8 billion.

Since 2004, Russia has led the world as the number-one buyer of U.S. poultry. In 2006, China dramatically increased its poultry purchases, nearly doubling their purchases from the previous year.

Table 9. U.S. Broiler Exports, Ready-to-Cook.
Year Russia CIS
(excludes Russia)
Mexico Caribbean China Canada Total
2004 1,502,329 572,777 431,037 312,852 263,727 214,740 4,783,454
2005 1,681,338 384,994 522,454 342,841 347,659 229,537 5,202,730
2006 1,599,019 329,550 457,647 345,417 640,618 237,904 5,272,034
These figures represent thousands of pounds.


To view the full report, Economic Impact of the Mississippi Poultry Industry — 2007 - click here.

July 2007
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