Poland is the largest poultry meat producer in the European Union and the third-largest exporter globally, trailing only Brazil and the United States exporting €5 billion in 2024. At the same time, the sector is also facing large challenges due to large and continuing poultry disease outbreaks.
Poland’s scale is unmatched in Europe. The country produces 21% of all chickens in the European Union, meaning every fifth chicken on an EU table originates from a Polish farm. In 2024, total poultry production exceeded 3.6 million tons, supported by 220 registered large-scale farms.
The industry is heavily export-oriented, with 60–64% of all production sent abroad. In 2024, Poland exported 2 million tons of meat valued at €5 billion, primarily to Germany, the UK, France, and the Netherlands. While maintaining its EU dominance, Poland also exports large volumes to Ukraine (30.000 ton), Vietnam, the Philippines (26.000 ), Congo (67.000) and Ghana (48.000) in 2024.
Poland is also a large egg producer. In 2024, the country produced 12 billion consumption eggs. To put this in perspective, the Netherlands, another major agricultural player produces approximately 8 billion eggs per year.
HPAI and Newcastle:18.5 Million Culled Birds and other challenges
At the same time, the sector’s growth is not only challenged by rising cost of feed and energy, but has also been severely interrupted in 2025 by outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and Newcastle Disease (ND). The biological crisis led to a production drop from 3.6 million tons to 2.1 million tons. Due to HPAI over 10 million birds were culled in 2025 and due to Newcastle Disease an additional 8.5 million birds were culled in the same year.
This massive reduction in flock sizes led to domestic price hikes and forced local producers to import poultry and eggs from Ukraine, Moldova, and Turkey to prevent supply chain gaps.
In order to prevent a too large drop in export, Poland has initiated diplomatic efforts to restore regionalized trade, with the Philippines for example. Despite these challenges Poland’s poultry sector retains significant growth potential.
Opportunities to expand exports to emerging markets in Africa and Asia may support the country’s continued leadership in the EU poultry market. Over the next five years, strengthened biosecurity measures, improved animal health surveillance, and strategic export promotion are expected to play a key role in sustaining the sector’s competitiveness and rebuilding international market confidence.
Beeld: Pixabay
Ties with the Netherlands
The Polish poultry value chain is increasingly integrated with Dutch technology and capital. Major firms like Plukon Food Group and Meyn have long been active in the market. The latest milestone occurred in February 2026, when the Dutch giant ForFarmers formed a joint venture with KPS Food Group, taking a 50.5% controlling stake to merge large-scale processing with advanced feed business operations. The agreement is intended to integrate feed production with large-scale processing activities in Poland, but it has not yet taken effect and awaits approval from regulatory authorities, including the Polish competition office (Urząd Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów).
More information
The Netherlands Agricultural Network team at the Dutch Embassy stands ready to help any Dutch company interested in doing business with Poland.
For more information about this topic, please contact: war-lvvn@minbuza.nl