Chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) are the most widely domesticated poultry species, with their origins tracing back over 8,000 years to Southeast Asia, particularly in regions that are now part of Thailand, Vietnam, and China. The domestication process likely began with the red junglefowl, and chickens gradually spread westward through trade routes to India, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe, eventually reaching the Americas with European colonists. Today, the top countries raising chickens are the United States, China, Brazil, and India, each boasting massive poultry industries that supply both meat and eggs to meet global demand. The United States leads in broiler (meat) production, while China is the largest overall producer when combining both meat and egg-laying chickens. These countries have advanced breeding, feeding, and management practices, making them central to the modern poultry industry.
| Rank | Country | Head |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 5,223,625,000 |
| 2 | Indonesia | 3,478,147,000 |
| 3 | Pakistan | 1,578,000,000 |
| 4 | Brazil | 1,530,669,000 |
| 5 | United States of America | 1,522,000,000 |
| 6 | Iran | 1,030,666,000 |
| 7 | India | 807,651,000 |
| 8 | Mexico | 604,682,000 |
| 9 | Vietnam | 526,300,000 |
| 10 | Russia | 472,674,000 |
| 11 | Turkey | 391,394,000 |
| 12 | Japan | 323,031,000 |
| 13 | Bangladesh | 304,106,000 |
| 14 | Malaysia | 302,779,000 |
| 15 | Thailand | 288,966,000 |
| 16 | France | 239,840,000 |
| 17 | Colombia | 222,131,000 |
| 18 | Bolivia | 217,662,000 |
| 19 | Morocco | 217,462,000 |
| 20 | Saudi Arabia | 208,398,000 |
| 21 | Peru | 189,375,000 |
| 22 | Ukraine | 183,543,000 |
| 23 | Dominican Republic | 181,540,000 |
| 24 | United Kingdom | 180,000,000 |
| 25 | South Korea | 177,194,000 |
| 26 | Philippines | 176,820,000 |
| 27 | Egypt | 176,564,000 |
| 28 | Canada | 173,199,000 |
| 29 | South Africa | 170,721,000 |
| 30 | Ecuador | 169,782,000 |
| 31 | Poland | 168,629,000 |
| 32 | Nigeria | 168,564,000 |
| 33 | Algeria | 137,269,000 |
| 34 | Venezuela | 125,132,000 |
| 35 | Argentina | 115,536,000 |
| 36 | Chile | 114,515,000 |
| 37 | Australia | 111,189,000 |
| 38 | China Taiwan | 100,232,000 |
| 39 | Netherlands | 99,887,000 |
| 40 | Tunisia | 99,209,000 |
| 41 | Myanmar | 98,000,000 |
| 42 | Ghana | 96,950,000 |
| 43 | Senegal | 92,805,000 |
| 44 | Cote d Ivoire | 88,248,000 |
| 45 | Uzbekistan | 82,502,000 |
| 46 | Nepal | 73,418,000 |
| 47 | Yemen | 71,621,000 |
| 48 | Lebanon | 67,770,000 |
| 49 | Iraq | 62,862,000 |
| 50 | Ethiopia | 59,289,000 |
| 51 | Kenya | 59,020,000 |
| 52 | Kuwait | 57,371,000 |
| 53 | Cameroon | 56,172,000 |
| 54 | Mali | 54,703,000 |
| 55 | Sudan | 51,477,000 |
| 56 | Angola | 50,213,000 |
| 57 | Laos | 49,532,000 |
| 58 | Honduras | 49,168,000 |
| 59 | Israel | 47,093,000 |
| 60 | Kazakhstan | 46,174,000 |
| 61 | Moldova | 43,459,000 |
| 62 | Madagascar | 42,735,000 |
| 63 | Zambia | 41,230,000 |
| 64 | Burkina Faso | 41,137,000 |
| 65 | Uruguay | 40,744,000 |
| 66 | Tanzania | 39,503,000 |
| 67 | Trinidad and Tobago | 39,045,000 |
| 68 | Guatemala | 39,036,000 |
| 69 | Belgium | 36,946,000 |
| 70 | Cuba | 36,919,000 |
| 71 | Libya | 36,155,000 |
| 72 | Guinea | 35,950,000 |
| 73 | Uganda | 35,796,000 |
| 74 | Belarus | 32,367,000 |
| 75 | Jordan | 30,626,000 |
| 76 | Guyana | 30,068,000 |
| 77 | Azerbaijan | 29,624,000 |
| 78 | Hungary | 28,888,000 |
| 79 | Togo | 28,081,000 |
| 80 | Panama | 27,771,000 |
| 81 | Costa Rica | 25,938,000 |
| 82 | United Arab Emirates | 25,930,000 |
| 83 | Nicaragua | 25,855,000 |
| 84 | New Zealand | 25,675,000 |
| 85 | Sierra Leone | 25,247,000 |
| 86 | Sri Lanka | 24,311,000 |
| 87 | Benin | 23,092,000 |
| 88 | Paraguay | 22,543,000 |
| 89 | Brunei Darussalam | 21,596,000 |
| 90 | Mozambique | 20,981,000 |
| 91 | Tajikistan | 20,925,000 |
| 92 | Niger | 20,836,000 |
| 93 | Malawi | 19,232,000 |
| 94 | Congo | 18,793,000 |
| 95 | El Salvador | 17,937,000 |
| 96 | North Korea | 17,327,000 |
| 97 | Zimbabwe | 17,031,000 |
| 98 | Syria | 16,686,000 |
| 99 | Mauritius | 16,547,000 |
| 100 | Norway | 16,336,000 |
| 101 | Turkmenistan | 15,677,000 |
| 102 | Serbia | 15,122,000 |
| 103 | South Sudan | 15,000,000 |
| 104 | Puerto Rico | 14,973,000 |
| 105 | Jamaica | 14,088,000 |
| 106 | Afghanistan | 13,855,000 |
| 107 | Cambodia | 12,735,000 |
| 108 | Switzerland | 12,568,000 |
| 109 | Croatia | 11,629,000 |
| 110 | Sweden | 10,315,000 |
| 111 | Slovakia | 10,136,000 |
| 112 | Portugal | 10,056,000 |
| 113 | Georgia | 9,980,000 |
| 114 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 8,727,000 |
| 115 | Finland | 8,499,000 |
| 116 | Liberia | 8,488,000 |
| 117 | Lithuania | 8,124,000 |
| 118 | Albania | 7,652,000 |
| 119 | Central African Republic | 7,175,000 |
| 120 | Palestine | 6,544,000 |
| 121 | Suriname | 6,277,000 |
| 122 | Chad | 6,169,000 |
| 123 | Haiti | 5,882,000 |
| 124 | Rwanda | 5,776,000 |
| 125 | Fiji | 5,629,000 |
| 126 | Oman | 4,860,000 |
| 127 | Mauritania | 4,773,000 |
| 128 | Slovenia | 4,671,000 |
| 129 | Papua New Guinea | 4,646,000 |
| 130 | Kyrgyzstan | 4,593,000 |
| 131 | Armenia | 4,318,000 |
| 132 | Namibia | 4,302,000 |
| 133 | China Hong Kong | 4,298,000 |
| 134 | Barbados | 4,240,000 |
| 135 | Singapore | 3,895,000 |
| 136 | Eswatini | 3,781,000 |
| 137 | Somalia | 3,765,000 |
| 138 | Gabon | 3,344,000 |
| 139 | Bahamas | 3,181,000 |
| 140 | Congo | 3,006,000 |
| 141 | Qatar | 3,000,000 |
| 142 | Burundi | 2,831,000 |
| 143 | Guinea-Bissau | 2,113,000 |
| 144 | Estonia | 2,032,000 |
| 145 | Belize | 1,687,000 |
| 146 | Bahrain | 1,534,000 |
| 147 | North Macedonia | 1,484,000 |
| 148 | Bhutan | 1,384,000 |
| 149 | Gambia | 1,346,000 |
| 150 | Mongolia | 1,150,000 |
| 151 | Eritrea | 1,144,000 |
| 152 | Cabo Verde | 1,000,000 |
| 153 | Botswana | 908,000 |
| 154 | Timor-Leste | 856,000 |
| 155 | China Macao | 797,000 |
| 156 | Kiribati | 651,000 |
| 157 | Montenegro | 609,000 |
| 158 | New Caledonia | 534,000 |
| 159 | Comoros | 530,000 |
| 160 | Vanuatu | 524,000 |
| 161 | Saint Lucia | 468,000 |
| 162 | Samoa | 458,000 |
| 163 | Equatorial Guinea | 377,000 |
| 164 | Lesotho | 362,000 |
| 165 | Tonga | 344,000 |
| 166 | French Polynesia | 329,000 |
| 167 | Sao Tome and Principe | 305,000 |
| 168 | Grenada | 271,000 |
| 169 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 252,000 |
| 170 | Solomon Islands | 246,000 |
| 171 | Iceland | 220,000 |
| 172 | Dominica | 202,000 |
| 173 | Micronesia | 191,000 |
| 174 | Luxembourg | 171,000 |
| 175 | Antigua and Barbuda | 161,000 |
| 176 | Seychelles | 130,000 |
| 177 | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 90,000 |
| 178 | Tuvalu | 57,000 |
| 179 | Niue | 19,000 |
| 180 | Cook Islands | 16,000 |
| 181.5 | Tokelau | 5,000 |
| 181.5 | Nauru | 5,000 |
Data from United Nations FAO Stat