EU countries by number of chickens
France had the highest number of chickens of 27 EU countries in 2012, at 241,133,000 head. Luxembourg had the lowest, at 113,000 head. The median was 18,174,000 head. Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Map of EU countries, 2012
- Under 4M
- 4M to 14M
- 14M to 27M
- 27M to 92M
- 92M and over
All EU countries, 2012
Full ranking
| Rank | EU countries | 2012 | Change on 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | 241,133,000 | +3.5% |
| 2 | Spain Estimated | 180,161,000 | +1% |
| 3 | Italy Estimated | 140,000,000 | +1.4% |
| 4 | Germany | 121,040,000 | +2% |
| 5 | Poland | 112,477,000 | -19.6% |
| 6 | Netherlands | 95,273,000 | -1.7% |
| 7 | Romania | 79,842,000 | -1.2% |
| 8 | Belgium | 35,618,000 | +0.7% |
| 9 | Hungary | 32,860,000 | +3.2% |
| 10 | Portugal Estimated | 28,312,000 | -6.2% |
| 11 | Greece | 28,083,000 | -3.2% |
| 12 | Sweden Estimated | 25,757,000 | +4.4% |
| 13 | Czechia | 20,107,000 | -2.3% |
| 14 | Denmark | 18,174,000 | -0.2% |
| 15 | Austria | 15,500,000 | -3.1% |
| 16 | Ireland Estimated | 14,500,000 | +3.6% |
| 17 | Bulgaria | 13,150,000 | -6.5% |
| 18 | Slovakia | 11,054,000 | -12.7% |
| 19 | Finland | 9,682,000 | +5.9% |
| 20 | Lithuania | 8,658,000 | -5.8% |
| 21 | Latvia | 4,418,000 | -10.7% |
| 22 | Croatia | 4,415,000 | +4.6% |
| 23 | Cyprus | 3,090,000 | +6.9% |
| 24 | Slovenia | 2,155,000 | -14.8% |
| 25 | Estonia | 1,973,000 | -1.6% |
| 26 | Malta | 970,000 | +5.4% |
| 27 | Luxembourg | 113,000 | +10.8% |
Other periods
About this ranking
Number of chickens present in the country, laying hens and birds raised for meat alike, as published in FAOSTAT's crops and livestock products domain. FAO publishes thousands of birds; Invokely multiplies by 1,000.
A count on one day of the year, while broilers live a few weeks, so it understates the number of birds raised in a year. FAO fills gaps in national reporting with its own estimates and imputations, which are marked as estimated, and revises past years when countries send new figures.
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the EU countries are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.
How to cite
FAO. 2025. FAOSTAT: Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112). Accessed on 2026-10-12. https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip Licence: CC-BY-4.0. FAO does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.Citation styles
APA 7
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2025). Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112) (EU countries by number of chickens, 2012) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip
MLA 9
Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112), EU countries by number of chickens, 2012. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 31 Dec. 2025, https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/chicken-population/eu-countries?period=2012. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
Chicago (author-date)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2025. Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112). EU countries by number of chickens, 2012. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/chicken-population/eu-countries?period=2012.
Harvard
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112), EU countries by number of chickens, 2012 [Dataset]. Available at: https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/chicken-population/eu-countries?period=2012 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{food_eu_countries_by_number_2012,
author = {{Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations}},
title = {{Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112): EU countries by number of chickens, 2012}},
year = {2025},
howpublished = {Data set},
url = {https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip},
urldate = {2026-10-12},
note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/chicken-population/eu-countries?period=2012. Publisher attribution: FAO. 2025. FAOSTAT: Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112). Accessed on 2026-10-12. https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production\_Crops\_Livestock\_E\_All\_Data\_\%28Normalized\%29.zip Licence: CC-BY-4.0. FAO does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.},
}
RIS
TY - DATA
AU - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
TI - Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112): EU countries by number of chickens, 2012
PY - 2025
DA - 2025/12/31
PB - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
DB - Invokely
UR - https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip
L2 - https://invokely.ai/rankings/chicken-population/eu-countries?period=2012
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/chicken-population/eu-countries?period=2012.
N1 - Publisher attribution: FAO. 2025. FAOSTAT: Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112). Accessed on 2026-10-12. https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_%28Normalized%29.zip Licence: CC-BY-4.0. FAO does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.
ER -
Use this data in your AI agent
Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:
Rank EU countries by number of chickens using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"chicken_stocks","level":"country","within":"European Union (27)","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=chicken_stocks&level=country&within=European%20Union%20(27)&limit=10Questions
Which EU country has the highest number of chickens?
France, with 241,133,000 head in 2012, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Which EU country has the lowest number of chickens?
Luxembourg, with 113,000 head in 2012.
Where does this ranking come from?
Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Production: Crops and livestock products (QCL): Chickens, stocks, 1000 head (item 1057, element 5112). Retrieved 2026-10-12.