Poultry exports double in H1FY26 on strong demand from the Middle East
India’s poultry exports have more than doubled to about $149 million during the first six months of the current financial year on robust demand for eggs from the Middle East. Exports of poultry product such as eggs and egg products stood at $71.16 million in the same period last year.
In Rupee terms, the poultry exports stood at ₹1,288.63 crore during the first half of current fiscal.
Strong demand from countries such as United Arab Emirates and Oman have lifted the Indian poultry exports even as supplies from other origins had dwindled during the year. Oman has traditionally been the largest buyer of the Indian eggs. However, this year, UAE has surpassed Oman as the largest buyer in the first six months of the current fiscal, as per the country wise shipment data from DGCIS.
“UAE, which opened up the market for Indian eggs last year, are importing in full swing. They have accepted our quality very well and standards are maintained,” said Valsan Parameswaran, Secretary, All India Poultry Exporters Association.
“The shortage in global supplies due to production issues in Turkey and Iran also contributed to the growth of Indian exports. Turkey and Iran were supplying to the Middle East market,” he said. Also Turkey has been supplying to the US, which has faced shortages due to the local production issues. India also for the first time supplied one crore eggs during June this year from the Namakkal region. However, there have been no further orders from the US.
Besides UAE and Oman, the Indian eggs and egg products have also seen a good demand from countries such as Japan and Indonesia among others. “The growth in demand for Indian poultry is expected to sustain. We expect a strong demand till January and this financial year will be good for poultry exports,” Parameswaran said.
During 2024-25, India’s poultry exports had seen a decline of about 9 per cent at $185.98 million from previous year’s $205 million, as per APEDA.
The total egg production in the country is estimated as 142.77 billion during 2023-24 and registered a growth of 6.8 per cent growth over the past 10 years as compared to the estimates of 78.48 billion numbers during 2014-15 as per the Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics 2024, released in November last year by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying. Further, the production has increased annually by 3.18 per cent during 2023-24 over 2022-23.
Andhra is the largest producer of eggs with a share of 17.85 per cent, followed by Tamil Nadu at 15.64 per cent, Telangana 12.88 per cent, West Bengal at 11.37 per cent and Karnataka 6.63 per cent.
Published on November 7, 2025
