Egg Production Doubles Since 1990
Between 1990 and 2005, global egg production has doubled to 4.93 billion egg-laying hens producing up to 300 eggs per year. Egg production in the United States, Japan, India, and Mexico has increased over this time, but most of the growth is due to a ten-fold increase in production by “developing” countries (especially China) in response to rising incomes and populations.
Global egg production doubled between 1990 and 2005. By then, some 64 million tons of eggs were produced worldwide (less than 1 percent more than in 2004). Today there are approximately 4.93 billion egg-laying hens in the world, each capable of producing up to 300 eggs per year. By 2015, world egg production is expected to reach 72 million tons, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
While egg production has increased in the United States, Japan, India, and Mexico over the past four decades, most of the growth has been due to a 10-fold increase in eggs in developing countries in response to rising incomes and growing populations. Between 1990 and 2005, China accounted for 64 percent of the growth in world egg production. By 2005 this one country produced nearly 44 percent of the world’s eggs 28.7 million tons more than five times as many as the next largest producer. And this trend is expected to continue, with output there predicted to rise by 23 percent by 2015.
[Abstract excerpted from site]