Laying hens in cages and cage-free housing by country

Includes battery and enriched cage systems.

Countries reporting
26
Highest
164.80 million hens
United States
Lowest
0 hens
Austria
Median
3.32 million hens
Years covered
30
1996–2025
Data points
391

What the numbers show

Laying hens in cages and cage-free housing is currently reported for 26 countries. The highest value is 164.80 million hens in United States; the lowest is 0 hens in Austria.

The median across all reporting countries is 3.32 million hens, and the mean is 11.97 million hens.

Over the past decade 5 countries rose and 20 fell. The largest increase was in Bulgaria (up 84.7%), and the largest decrease in Austria (down 100.0%).

Laying hens in cages and cage-free housing: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 United States 164.80 million hens 2025 down 35.7% falling
2 Poland 33.35 million hens 2025 down 10.1% rising
3 Spain 28.24 million hens 2025 down 25.4% falling
4 France 17.58 million hens 2023 down 44.7% falling
5 Italy 14.68 million hens 2025 down 54.0% falling
6 United Kingdom 7.38 million hens 2025 down 60.8% falling
7 Portugal 6.00 million hens 2024 down 18.0% flat
8 Romania 5.43 million hens 2025 up 36.4% rising
9 Hungary 5.42 million hens 2024 up 25.0% rising
10 Netherlands 4.43 million hens 2025 down 26.5% falling
11 Bulgaria 4.10 million hens 2025 up 84.7% rising
12 Belgium 3.82 million hens 2024 down 25.2% falling
13 Greece 3.56 million hens 2020 flat
14 Czechia 3.08 million hens 2025 down 29.7% falling
15 Lithuania 2.63 million hens 2024 up 16.9% rising
16 Slovakia 1.44 million hens 2025 down 46.1% falling
17 Finland 1.14 million hens 2025 down 58.6% falling
19 Croatia 1.02 million hens 2025 down 27.1% falling
20 Latvia 832,208 hens 2025 down 63.6% flat
21 Estonia 693,400 hens 2025 down 23.1% falling
23 Denmark 474,240 hens 2025 down 68.8% volatile
24 Germany 414,388 hens 2025 down 92.2% falling
25 Cyprus 339,780 hens 2025 up 11.2% rising
26 Slovenia 194,546 hens 2025 down 71.6% falling
27 Sweden 61,948 hens 2025 down 95.1% volatile
28 Austria 0 hens 2025 down 100.0% volatile

About this data

Indicator
Laying hens in cages and cage-free housing
Unit
hens
Source
European Commission (2026) and other sources – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
29 places, 391 data points, 1996–2025
Last refreshed

Includes battery and enriched cage systems.