06.07.2015

The poultry meat industry’s contribution to the UK economy
■ The UK poultry meat industry is estimated to support a £3.6 billion gross value added contribution to GDP through its direct, supply chain and wage consumption impacts. This means that £1 in every £480 of economic output in the UK is in some way dependent on the poultry industry.
■ For every £1 billion in gross value added the industry itself generates, it supports another £1.25 billion in the rest of the UK economy.
■ The poultry meat industry supports 79,300 jobs in the UK. This means 1 in every 380 jobs in the UK is some way dependent on the poultry industry.
■ The industry supports £1.1 billion in tax receipts, equivalent to £43 for every household in the UK.
Poultry is the UK’s favourite meat
■ Consumers buy more poultry than any other meat. In 2014, poultry accounted for 47% of all meat purchased in the UK by weight. Chicken accounted for 91% of those sales.
■ Over the period 2008 (when the recession started) to 2014, when household budgets have been under particular pressure, poultry prices in the shops have increased by 13% compared with 35% for beef, 42% for lamb and 35% for food in general. 
The UK is the third largest poultry meat producer in Europe
■ The UK is a major producer of poultry meat. In 2014, it was home to 14% of EU 28 Member States’ production.
■ Three quarters of the poultry consumed in the UK is reared on UK farms. By bird number, chicken dominates poultry production. In 2014, it accounted for 92% of all poultry reared for meat with turkeys and ducks comprising 3% and 2%, respectively.
■ Broiler chicken dominates poultry production by weight. In 2014, it comprised 1.4 (or 84%) of the total 1.6 million tonnes. Turkey ranked second, with around 0.2 million tonnes of meat (or 11% of all poultry meat produced). 
The UK trade in poultry meat
■ In 2014, UK poultry meat exports were valued at £305 million (up 120% since 2000). Some 69% of export earnings were from sales to other EU countries, with the remaining 31% to the rest of the world. By status, 75% of export earnings in 2014 were made from the sale of frozen meat, with the remainder fresh or chilled.
■ The UK spent £1,059 million on imports of poultry meat in 2014.