South Korea's laying hen population has climbed to a record high as egg prices surged this year. Experts say demand for eggs, a relatively cheap food staple, is rising as real incomes fall amid persistent inflation. Longer-term shifts such as the growth of single-person households and changing eating habits are also driving egg demand higher.
The country had 86.544 million laying hens as of the 1st of last month, up 5.461 million, or 6.7%, from a year earlier, according to the third-quarter livestock survey released by Statistics Korea on the 23rd. It is the largest figure since the statistics began in 1983. The flock has grown for five consecutive years on a same-quarter basis from 70.722 million in the third quarter of 2021.
The immediate cause of the recent jump was the highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak that spread nationwide from last autumn through this spring. With 11.34 million laying hens culled, average daily egg production in June fell 3.3% from a year earlier to 47.05 million. Farmers responded by bringing in more chicks while also keeping existing hens in production longer than usual. "There was a push to increase supply as the amount of eggs on the market fell short," said Kim In-sik, head of the agriculture and fisheries trends division at Statistics Korea. "With prices staying high, farmers had a stronger incentive to expand their laying hen operations."
Experts say changes in eating habits driven by high inflation and weakening purchasing power lie behind the trend. For consumers under pressure from food costs, eggs have emerged as an alternative source of protein at relatively low cost.
"With the economy in poor shape, consumers are looking for cheap but good-quality protein, so demand is rising for eggs, whose strength is price," said Moon Jeong-hoon, a professor of agricultural economics and rural sociology at Seoul National University. Monthly real consumption spending per household among all households of one or more members fell 0.4% in 2025 from the previous year, according to the ministry's household trends survey. Real income appeared to rise 0.4% in the first quarter and 1.5% in the second quarter this year, helped by fuel subsidies and other government support, but excluding that support it worsened to -0.3% in the first quarter and -1.3% in the second. The number of employed young adults has also fallen for nearly four straight years since November 2022.
Convenience in cooking and interest in health management are supporting egg consumption as well. In a consumer survey released early this year by the Korea Rural Economic Institute, 44.7% of respondents said they had increased household egg consumption last year. The most common reasons cited were "convenience in cooking and use" (33.0%) and "health management purposes" (23.5%). Single-person households accounted for 36.6% of all households last year, up from 15.5% in 2000, ministry data showed. Eggs, which are easy to cook in small portions and to store, are likely to have benefited from that shift.
Actual consumption is rising too. Annual egg consumption per person increased 29.4% to 15.4 kilograms last year from 11.9 kilograms in 2010. The institute estimates egg consumption rose again this year from last year.
Other livestock, by contrast, generally saw their numbers shrink. As of the 1st of last month, there were 3.18 million Hanwoo cattle, down 4.5% from the same point a year earlier. Pigs fell 2.4% and broilers 4.4%. The declines are attributed to damage from animal diseases combined with a shrinking breeding base. Breeding cows for Korean native and beef cattle fell to 1.57 million this year from 1.62 million in September last year. Over the same period, breeding sows declined to 951,000 from 971,000. "Unlike poultry, where herd size can be adjusted relatively flexibly, Hanwoo cattle and pigs have long breeding cycles, so it is structurally difficult to raise or cut numbers quickly," an institute official said.
Egg supply and demand will be shaped going forward by both expanded production and new rules on raising conditions. Farm-gate prices for a 30-egg tray of extra-large eggs fell to 5,193 won on the day from an average of 6,768 won in July, according to the Korea Institute for Animal Products Quality Evaluation. "Farm-gate prices fell first as the number of laying hens grew, and consumer prices have recently started to decline as well, so things are gradually stabilizing," Kim said. One wild card is a rule on raising conditions that takes effect next September. The government has required the minimum space per chicken to be widened to 0.075 square meters from 0.05 square meters. That means farms will have to expand their facilities to keep the same number of birds. As of May, 655 farms were counted as needing such upgrades.