Poultry: China
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of the UK's chicken supply was imported from China in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26.
Answered by Dame Angela Eagle
Defra publishes quarterly data on poultry meat production, trade and supplies on GOV.UK (Latest cattle, sheep and pig slaughter statistics - GOV.UK). Data is not available specifically for imports and supply of chicken meat. Annual data on total poultry meat imports from China as a proportion of total UK poultry meat supplies is provided in the table below.
Table 1: Total poultry meat imports from China as a proportion of total UK poultry meat supplies, thousand tonnes dressed carcase weight equivalent (th tonnes dcw)
Year | UK total new poultry meat supply (th tonnes dcw) | UK imports of poultry meat from China1 (th tonnes dcw) | UK imports of poultry meat from China1 as a % of total new supply |
2024 | 2,463.2 | 0.19 | 0.008% |
20252 | 2,552.2 | 0.07 | 0.003% |
Table Notes:
1) Imports from China have been defined on a Country of dispatch basis
2) Data for 2025 is provisional
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