Six decades of global egg production: how output sextupled, which countries lay the most, and where the trend points by 2030.
100Mtonnes of eggs produced worldwide in 2024, about 6.6× the 1961 figure
Photo: Monserrat Soldú / Pexelsscroll
Eggs are one of the cheapest and most universal sources of animal protein, yet
the plain question, how many do we actually produce, has a precise answer.
This study pulls the full FAOSTAT record of egg production, cleans it, and
projects where global output is heading.
Production has grown more than six times since 1961
In 1961 the world produced about 15 million tonnes of eggs. By 2024 that
figure reached 100 million tonnes, a roughly 6.6-fold climb driven by
rising incomes, cheaper feed, and the spread of intensive poultry farming. The
solid line below is the historical record. The dashed line is a forecast through
2030, and the shaded cone is its 80% uncertainty band.
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World egg production, 1961 to 2024, with a Holt linear-trend forecast to 2030 (80% band). Source: FAOSTAT via Our World in Data, as of 2024.Behind 100 million tonnes a year sits a global flock of billions of laying hens.Photo: Steven Van Elk / Pexels
A handful of countries lay most of them
Production is strikingly concentrated. China alone accounts for roughly 36%
of the world’s eggs, far ahead of any other producer. Together with India
and Indonesia, the top three produce more than half of the global total. The
United States, Brazil, and Mexico round out the next tier.
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Top 10 egg-producing countries by output in 2024, labelled with each country's share of world production. Source: FAOSTAT via Our World in Data.
About 113 Mt by 2030, if the trend holds
Extending the historical trend points to roughly 113 million tonnes by 2030,
with an 80% band running from about 110 to 115 Mt. This is a baseline
trajectory, not a market call. It assumes the steady growth of the past
continues, and it deliberately does not model bird-flu outbreaks, feed-price
shocks, or shifting demand. That honesty is the point: the model is simple,
transparent, and fully reproducible from the script linked below.
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