Egg production in the EU

In 2021, there were 376 million laying hens in the EU producing 6.9million tonnes of shell eggs for consumption. In the same year in the UK, there were 41 million laying hens producing over 0.75 million tonnes of shell eggs. Per capita consumption was higher in the EU (13.1 kg/cap/year) than the UK (11.2 kg/cap/year).

France, Germany, Spain, and Italy are the biggest producers, between them accounting for more than half (54%) of EU production in 2021. The UK has a similar level of production to Italy.

In the EU, more than half of hens are now kept in non-cage systems. This figure is even higher in the UK where 64.6% of laying hens are cage free, with the majority of these having access to the outdoors.