EU countries by number of chickens
France had the highest number of chickens of 27 EU countries in 2017, at 244,774,000 head. Luxembourg had the lowest, at 123,000 head. The median was 20,587,000 head. Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Map of EU countries, 2017
- Under 6M
- 6M to 16M
- 16M to 31M
- 31M to 99M
- 99M and over
All EU countries, 2017
Full ranking
| Rank | EU countries | 2017 | Change on 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | 244,774,000 | +0.5% |
| 2 | Spain Estimated | 187,784,000 | +3.1% |
| 3 | Poland | 177,640,000 | +5.1% |
| 4 | Germany Estimated | 160,000,000 | +0.9% |
| 5 | Italy Estimated | 146,948,000 | +3.3% |
| 6 | Netherlands | 105,184,000 | -0.4% |
| 7 | Romania | 75,690,000 | -3.8% |
| 8 | Belgium | 40,179,000 | -5.6% |
| 9 | Greece | 37,262,000 | +4.8% |
| 10 | Portugal Estimated | 37,228,000 | +11.3% |
| 11 | Hungary | 32,027,000 | -1.2% |
| 12 | Sweden | 30,559,000 | +2.7% |
| 13 | Denmark | 20,733,000 | +15.8% |
| 14 | Czechia | 20,587,000 | +0.8% |
| 15 | Bulgaria | 17,738,000 | +24.4% |
| 16 | Austria Estimated | 16,736,000 | -0.1% |
| 17 | Ireland Estimated | 15,504,000 | +0.4% |
| 18 | Finland | 12,266,000 | -1% |
| 19 | Slovakia | 11,806,000 | -5.7% |
| 20 | Lithuania | 9,917,000 | +8.4% |
| 21 | Croatia | 9,840,000 | +6.7% |
| 22 | Latvia Estimated | 4,774,000 | +6.5% |
| 23 | Slovenia | 3,639,000 | +4.6% |
| 24 | Cyprus Estimated | 3,428,000 | +12.4% |
| 25 | Estonia | 2,195,000 | +6.9% |
| 26 | Malta Estimated | 1,004,000 | -2% |
| 27 | Luxembourg | 123,000 | +7.9% |
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, 2017) [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, 2017. 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=2017. 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, 2017. 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=2017.
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, 2017 [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=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{food_eu_countries_by_number_2017,
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, 2017}},
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=2017. 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, 2017
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=2017
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/chicken-population/eu-countries?period=2017.
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
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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 244,774,000 head in 2017, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Which EU country has the lowest number of chickens?
Luxembourg, with 123,000 head in 2017.
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.