Laying hens in cages and cage-free housing in Italy

Italy: Laying hens in cages and cage-free housing was 14.68 million hens in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)
14.68 million hens
Change on year
up 1.2%
World rank
5th
of 29 countries
All-time high
43.23 million hens
in 2012
All-time low
14.43 million hens
in 2021
Years of data
14
2012–2025

Laying hens in cages and cage-free housing in Italy, 2012–2025

10.0M20.0M30.0M40.0M2012201820252012: 43.2M hens2013: 41.0M hens2014: 40.4M hens2015: 31.9M hens2016: 27.4M hens2017: 21.6M hens2018: 27.4M hens2019: 19.7M hens2020: 17.2M hens2021: 14.4M hens2022: 15.4M hens2023: 14.7M hens2024: 14.5M hens2025: 14.7M hens

Source: European Commission (2026) and other sources – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in hens.

Analysis

In 2025, laying hens in cages and cage-free housing in Italy stood at 14.68 million hens.

That represents a change of up 1.2% on the previous year and down 54.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, laying hens in cages and cage-free housing in Italy peaked at 43.23 million hens in 2012 and was at its lowest, 14.43 million hens, in 2021.

Italy ranks 5th of 29 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 14 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 31.57 million hens 19.68 million hens 43.23 million hens 8
2020s 15.16 million hens 14.43 million hens 17.23 million hens 6

Countries ranked near Italy

  1. 2 Poland 33.35 million hens compare
  2. 3 Spain 28.24 million hens compare
  3. 4 France 17.58 million hens compare
  4. 6 United Kingdom 7.38 million hens compare
  5. 7 Portugal 6.00 million hens compare
  6. 8 Romania 5.43 million hens compare

See the full ranking of 29 places →

More reference data data for Italy

All data for Italy →

Frequently asked questions

What is laying hens in cages and cage-free housing in Italy?
Laying hens in cages and cage-free housing in Italy was 14.68 million hens in 2025, according to European Commission (2026) and other sources – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest laying hens in cages and cage-free housing recorded in Italy?
The highest recorded value was 43.23 million hens in 2012.
What is the lowest laying hens in cages and cage-free housing recorded in Italy?
The lowest recorded value was 14.43 million hens in 2021.
How does Italy rank for laying hens in cages and cage-free housing?
Italy ranks 5th out of 29 countries with data for 2025.
Is laying hens in cages and cage-free housing rising or falling in Italy?
Over the last ten years it is down 54.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Italy data come from?
The figures come from European Commission (2026) and other sources – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Laying hens in cages and cage-free housing. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

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.