In 2023, industrial turnover stood at 7.5 billion: specifically 5.18 billion for poultry meat and 2.3 billion for eggs. These are some of the numbers that emerged during the general assembly of Unaitalia, the reference association for the poultry meat sector, which has just confirmed Antonio Forlini in the role of president (read EFA News).

Poultry meat production stands at 1,328,600 tonnes of which 1,019,100 tonnes of chicken alone (+4.3% compared to the previous year) and 272,600 tonnes (+24.5% of turkey). Apparent per capita consumption is growing, reaching 21.38 kg (+2.9% over 2022), confirming Italians' passion for white meats, which continue to be the most popular with 35% of domestic purchases. Poultry meat is also popular abroad: after a difficult 2022, exports are growing again by 25% with 191,500 tonnes.

Egg production is growing in 2023, guaranteed by around 42 million laying hens housed in around 2,900 farms: in total, 12.3 billion eggs are produced (+6.8% compared to 2022), equal to around 776 thousand tonnes. In 2023 we consumed 12 billion 652 million eggs (-2.6% compared to 2022), equal to 214.5 eggs per person (13.5 kilos per capita). The level of self-sufficiency in the sector is good, equal to 97.4%. The number of eggs from free-range hens is growing and that from enriched cages is decreasing.

According to data from the National Registry, the share of eggs coming from hens in enriched cages fell by 25.5% between 2019 and 2024, significantly lower than the European average (39.2%) while the share of those on the ground (+3.7% on 2022). At the end of 2023, 55.6% of the animals in laying were raised "on the ground", 34.5% in farms with "enriched cages", 5.1% in free-range farms and 4.8% on organic farms.