EU Egg Imports: the Scale of the Cage-Welfare Gap
Exploring the data behind Europe’s imported eggs and egg products
Around nine in ten eggs and egg products imported into the European Union come from caged hens. At the same time, the value of these imports increased more than eightfold between 2021 and 2025, reaching €336 million.
This trade represents millions of hens kept in production systems that the European Commission is preparing to phase out for laying hens within the EU. As the Commission develops its forthcoming animal welfare legislation, the question is whether equivalent welfare requirements for imports will cover all the ways eggs enter the European market.
Animal Policy International has analysed EU trade data to examine the scale of these imports, the countries supplying them, and the different forms in which eggs enter the EU market.
The two interactive dashboards below allow you to explore the findings.
1. Where do the EU’s imported eggs come from?
The countries supplying eggs and egg products from caged hens
This dashboard examines the estimated share of caged-hen production behind EU imports from individual exporting countries.
Search for countries such as Ukraine, Türkiye, North Macedonia, Argentina and China to explore their contribution to the trade and the role of caged production in supplying the EU market.
The analysis highlights the concentration of imports from countries where cages remain widely used, helping show where the EU’s import requirements could have the greatest impact on laying-hen welfare.
2. How much does the EU import, and from whom?
The value and composition of EU egg imports across countries and Member States
This dashboard examines the scale of the trade over time, allowing you to explore total EU imports, compare trading partners and investigate imports by individual EU Member States.
The data shows how the value of EU imports of eggs and egg products grew from around €40 million in 2021 to €336 million in 2025. It also reveals how the trade is distributed across suppliers and markets, providing context for the potential reach of equivalent welfare requirements.
Explore the data to compare importing Member States, identify major trading partners and examine changes in the trade over time.
Why processed egg products matter
Eggs enter the EU market in more forms than intact eggs in their shells. They are also exported as liquid or dried products, for use in foods such as bakery products, sauces, confectionery and ready meals.
These products may be difficult for consumers to trace back to the original production system once they have been incorporated into other foods.
Our analysis estimates that 24.5% of the caged hens behind EU egg imports produce eggs for processing rather than sale in their shells. Dried egg products alone accounted for around 6% of imports by weight but an estimated 21% of the caged hens behind the trade.
If equivalent welfare requirements were to cover shell eggs but exclude processed egg products, a substantial part of the trade could remain outside the new rules.
What the findings mean for EU policy
The European Commission is preparing legislation to phase out cages for laying hens in the EU and introduce equivalent welfare requirements for imported eggs (proposal expected by December 2026). The final proposal presents an opportunity to ensure that the same principle applies consistently, regardless of whether eggs enter the EU in their shells or as processed products.
Animal Policy International recommends that the legislation explicitly cover shell eggs and processed egg products, with the scope clearly defined using the relevant customs codes.
Applying the requirement consistently across these products would help prevent differences in product form from creating gaps in the protection of laying hens.
About the analysis
The dashboards draw on Animal Policy International’s analysis of Eurostat Comext trade data covering 2010–2025 and the first quarter of 2026. Estimates of the number and production systems of hens behind imports are calculated using the methodology set out in the report.
Trade data records the movement and value of products; estimates of the hens behind those products are analytical calculations, rather than direct counts of individual animals. Figures should therefore be understood in the context of the report’s methodology and assumptions.
For the full findings, methodology and policy recommendations, read Closing the Welfare Gap on Imported Eggs.