The end of the Polish egg monopoly? The scale of imports from Turkey and Ukraine surprised the industry
Poland is one of the leading egg exporters in the EU, but egg imports to our country have been increasing for several years. In 2025, 238.4 thousand were exported. tons of eggs, import amounted to 52.5 thousand. tons – increased by 73%. y/y. – Katarzyna Gawrońska, director of the National Chamber of Poultry and Feed Producers (KIPDiP), told PAP.
As PAP's interlocutor noted, until recently, Polish foreign trade in eggs was focused on exports, but imports have been gaining importance for several years. The director of KIPDiP explained that imports are increasing, among others. due to the occurrence of poultry diseases in Europe, including Poland (bird flu and Newcastle disease), which are decimating chicken flocks and reducing the supply of eggs. She added that Poland imports eggs from third countries, but also buys them from EU countries.
According to the Chamber's data, in 2025 the import of eggs and egg products to the EU from third countries amounted to 188.7 thousand. tons, of which 26 thousand tons went to Poland (14% of imports to the EU). EU imports increased by over 50% y/y. Poland imports eggs mainly from Ukraine and Turkey, noted the head of the Chamber.
– With the rapid price increases we are experiencing in Europe, there is greater interest from processing plants and other food market entities in purchasing eggs from third countries. What attracts attention is the scale of deliveries from Ukraine to the EU. In 2025, 120.6 thousand were imported from Ukraine to EU countries. tons, which means an increase in imports by over 60%. compared to imports in 2024. Mainly fresh eggs in shell and whole egg products are imported from Ukraine. Poland's share in imports from Ukraine in 2025 was nearly 16 percent, which means that 18.8 thousand were imported from there. tone – Gawrońska told PAP.
As she noted, statistics prove that duty-free quotas under the EU-Ukraine trade agreement do not protect the EU market against the inflow of eggs from beyond the eastern border. Ukrainian entities are able to pay customs duties within quotas beyond preferential access to trade.
– In 2025, deliveries began to increase rapidly Turkish eggs to the Community market. Türkiye exported mainly fresh shell eggs to the EU (23.2 thousand tonnes). The leader in imports of Turkish raw materials is Italy (12.7 thousand tons). We also noticed a significant increase in purchases from this direction directly on the Polish market (import: 6.9 thousand tons) – said the PAP interlocutor.
In her opinion, in the long term, we must take into account the growing supply of eggs from other directions, e.g. from Moldova or North Macedonia.
– In our opinion, Poland's future strong competition is also growing on the EU market – it is Romania. Polish import statistics show increasing supplies of eggs of Romanian origin, also for retail sale – said Gawrońska.
Currently, Poland is one of the key egg exporters and is among the European and world leaders. About 30-40 percent domestic production goes to foreign markets. The main recipients of the Polish product in 2025 were the Netherlands, Germany, France, the Czech Republic and Great Britain.
– In 2025, egg exports from Poland amounted to 238.4 thousand. tons, i.e. approximately the same as the year before, while egg imports (from the EU and third countries) amounted to 52.5 thousand. tons, i.e. increased by 73%. y/y. – Gawrońska informed.
According to the Chamber, importing eggs to Poland should slowly become the norm, like export. This means that the occurrence of poultry disease outbreaks on farms located in the “egg basins” will not have such a huge impact on prices on the domestic market as currently. It is likely that the decline in the supply of domestic eggs will be replaced by imports, Gawrońska said.
She emphasized that if the Chamber's experts are right, prices on the domestic market will be shaped by supply and demand on international markets.
– The supply of eggs currently dominates the world markets. Prices are very low, and in many places at record lows. It is different in the EU, but we are also seeing the beginnings of price declines. Therefore, we believe that after the shock related to poultry diseases in Masovia subsides, prices in Poland will fall – emphasized Gawrońska.
According to the Integrated Agricultural Market Information System of the Ministry of Agriculture, eggs have become cheaper since Easter, although compared to the prices from a year ago (comparing the second week of April this year to the same period in 2025), they are about 10-13 percent cheaper. higher, except for cage eggs, which are over 11 percent. cheaper (compared to April 2025). (PAP)
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