The UK poultry meat sector contributed £8.5 billion to the country’s GDP in 2023, with £2.8 billion generated directly by the industry. The remainder came from spending across domestic supply chains and wages paid to employees within the sector and its suppliers.
Since 2013, the industry’s GDP contribution has risen by 31% in real terms, averaging 2.7% growth per year. This growth rate exceeds the broader UK economy, which expanded by 17% over the same period, and outpaces the agricultural sector’s 12% increase.
Turnover for the poultry meat industry reached £10.3 billion in 2023. Poultry farmers accounted for 34% of this figure, while processors generated the remaining 66%. Poultry farming represented 26% of gross value added among livestock producers and 9% of the total agricultural sector’s £13.7 billion contribution.
The sector also supported £1.9 billion in tax revenue, equivalent to roughly a third of public spending on agriculture, fisheries, and forestry in 2022/23.
Employment across the industry reached 113,500. Of these, 35,700 worked directly in poultry, including 27,100 in processing and 8,600 on farms. For every 100 roles in the sector, another 220 were supported elsewhere in the economy through supply chain and wage effects.