Germany: Egg production fell slightly in 2023
Barn farming was still the dominant form of farming with 58.8% of the eggs produced, although this share fell again compared to the previous year (2022: 59.7%). In a five-year comparison to 2018, the declining trend in barn farming becomes even clearer: At that time, 63.2% of the eggs produced in Germany came from barn farming. In contrast, the proportion of free-range eggs rose further to 23.0% in 2023 (2022: 21.5%; 2018: 19.1%). The proportion of eggs from organic production was 13.4%, a slight decrease compared to the previous year (2022: 13.8%), but it was also higher than five years previously (2018: 11.0%). The remaining share of 4.9% of egg production came from keeping in small groups (2022: 5.0%; 2018: 6.8%).
The average number of barn laying hens fell by 1.2% or 321,000 to 25.9 million animals in 2023. The number of eggs produced from this type of farming fell by 2.2% or 172 million to 7.7 billion eggs. In contrast, the average number of free-range laying hens rose by 7.5% or 706,000 to 10.2 million animals. Free-range egg production increased by 6.1% or 173 million to 3.0 billion eggs.
After organic egg production had steadily increased in previous years, the average number of laying hens in this form of farming fell by 1.9% or 121,000 to 6.1 million animals in 2023. At the same time, the number of organic eggs fell by 3.9% or 71 million or 3.9% to 1.8 billion. As in previous years, the number of animals kept in small groups fell again in 2023, by 7.4% or 162,000 to 2.0 million hens. The number of eggs produced in this form of farming fell by 3.2% or 21 million to 640 million. The reason for this is the ban on this form of keeping, although existing companies are allowed to continue keeping small groups until the end of 2025.
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