Canadian poultry and egg statistics

Statistics Canada’s report indicates that Canadian farmers produced 1.2 million tonnes of poultry meat in 2005, up 3.6% from 2004. Chicken accounts for close to 87% of all poultry meat produced. It increased 3.1% from year-ago levels. Turkey production stood at 155 thousand tonnes in 2005, an increase of 7.1% from 2004.

Egg production in 2005, at 586.9million dozen, increased 5.9% from2004, due to the re-population of flocks following the outbreak of avian influenza in British Columbia.

During the first 9 months of 2006, egg production totalled 440.3 million dozen, an increase of 0.9% from the same period in 2005. In September 2006, it was down 1.9%, compared to September of last year.

The report shows that the consumption of poultry and eggs has stabilised in recent years.

Poultry consumption was 13.7 kilograms per person in 2005, a slight increase of 1.0% from last year and well above the 11.6 kilograms consumed per person ten years ago. Annual egg consumption was measured at 12.9 dozen per person in 2005, following a slight decrease in 2004.

The report says that the stabilised consumption levels are owing to the availability of varied, easy-to-prepare and ready-to-eat poultry products, and the positive publicity surrounding the nutritional value of eggs and the increased use of value-added and processed egg products.

The value of poultry products totalled $2.6 billion in 2005, virtually unchanged from 2004. Sales of poultry meat, including turkey, were up 2.1% with a total value close to $1.9 billion. The value of egg sales, however, decreased 4.2% from 2004 to stand at $717.2 million.

All figures are in Canadian dollars (1 CAD = 0.877 USD/0.664 EUR).