SEOUL, Oct. 23 (Yonhap) -- The number of laying hens raised in South Korea increased in the third quarter from a year earlier, while numbers of other major livestock declined, data showed Friday.
The total number of laying hens in the country was estimated at 86.54 million in the period, up 6.7 percent from a year earlier, following an increase in chick placements at local farms, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
The number of broiler chickens, on the other hand, fell 4.4 percent to 90.13 million.
The number of beef cattle, including the Korean native breed "hanwoo," came to 3.31 million, down 4.2 percent from a year earlier. The decrease was due to a decline in the number of breeding cows, the latest findings showed.
The report showed the number of dairy cattle came to 362,000, down 3 percent from a year earlier.
The number of pigs reached 10.77 million in the third quarter, a contraction of 2.4 percent from the same period in 2025.
Shoppers purchase eggs at a supermarket in Seoul in this file photo taken July 24, 2026. (Yonhap)
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