Page 1 of 3
By Prof. Hans-Wilhelm Windhorst, Vechta, Germany*
Global shell egg production has shown remarkable dynamics over the past two decades. This growth was not homogeneous, however, and led to a considerable spatial shift in the centres of egg production. Whereas in 1990 developed countries still contributed over 52% to global egg production, less developed and threshold countries shared 59% in 2008. This shift is mainly a result of the fast growth of egg production in Asia, especially in China. In a detailed analysis, which was presented at the last IEC spring conference in London, the author documented the dynamic changes of egg production and egg trade and presented a new spatial pattern of the global egg industry. The main results are presented in this article.Asia is dominating
Global shell egg production increased from 35.2 million tonnes in 1990 to 61.2 million tonnes in 2008 or by 73.6%. It was, however, not a homogeneous growth as can be seen from the data in Table 1. The highest absolute increase was in Asia with 22 million tonnes, followed by North America with 2.7 million tonnes, Central and South America with 1.6 million tonnes and Africa with 1 million tonnes. The remarkable increase of the production volume in Asia led to a considerable shift in the spatial pattern of egg production. Whereas in 1990 the contribution of Asian and European countries to the overall global production was still quite similar, the situation had completely changed in 2008. With a share of 58.6%, Asia was in an dominating position. In the same time period Europe lost almost half of its former share, all other continents were also not able to maintain their former contribution. Europe was the only continent with an absolute decrease of the production volume, it lost 1.5 million tonnes. This was mainly due to the socio-economic transformation process in Eastern Europe. The described spatial shift reflects the dynamics of egg production in several less developed and threshold countries.
Global shell egg production increased from 35.2 million tonnes in 1990 to 61.2 million tonnes in 2008 or by 73.6%. It was, however, not a homogeneous growth as can be seen from the data in Table 1. The highest absolute increase was in Asia with 22 million tonnes, followed by North America with 2.7 million tonnes, Central and South America with 1.6 million tonnes and Africa with 1 million tonnes. The remarkable increase of the production volume in Asia led to a considerable shift in the spatial pattern of egg production. Whereas in 1990 the contribution of Asian and European countries to the overall global production was still quite similar, the situation had completely changed in 2008. With a share of 58.6%, Asia was in an dominating position. In the same time period Europe lost almost half of its former share, all other continents were also not able to maintain their former contribution. Europe was the only continent with an absolute decrease of the production volume, it lost 1.5 million tonnes. This was mainly due to the socio-economic transformation process in Eastern Europe. The described spatial shift reflects the dynamics of egg production in several less developed and threshold countries.
Extraordinary role
The data in Table 2 documents the dramatic spatial shift which occurred in egg production in the analysed time period. In 1990, developed countries contributed 52.5% to the global production volume, threshold countries 36% and less developed countries 11.5%. Only ten years later, the situation had changed thoroughly. Threshold countries were in a leading position with a share of 56.4%. Developed countries had lost almost 20% of their former share. In spite of an absolute growth in production volume, the contribution of less developed countries was lower than in 1990.In 2008, threshold countries had further strengthened their position. In developed countries, production increased again, but growth rates were much lower than in less developed and threshold countries so that their contribution to the global production volume fell by another 4%.A closer look at the dynamics in the development classes in the analysed time period reveals that of the total increase of 26 million tonnes, 23.6 million tonnes or 90% were contributed by threshold countries and almost 3.3 million tonnes by less developed countries. Developed countries, on the other hand, lost about 1 million tonnes of egg production. In Table 3, the ten leading egg producing countries, independent from their development status, are listed for 1990 and 2008. Of the ten leading countries in 2008, four were located in Asia, three in the Americas and three in Europe. Only one EU member country, France, was left among the top listed egg producing countries. Six of the ten leading countries were threshold countries and four developed countries. This documents the extraordinary role that threshold countries played in the dynamics of global egg production.
 |
| Besides large scale operations, producing for supermarkets and the processing industry, the sale of eggs on the street also contributes largely to growing consumption. |
Page 1 of 3 | Next Page »
Source: World Poultry, Vol. 27, No. 5
