Middle East poultry boom opens door for EU exporters

While domestic production across some countries in the Middle East has been scaling up in recent years, the region remains heavily reliant on imports. Rising tourism, mega-events, and long-term diversification strategies are turning the region into a strategic battleground for global exporters, including those from Europe.

In recent years, the wealthier Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain, have become increasingly attractive destinations for European poultry exporters. Continued population growth, rising incomes, and limited scope to significantly expand domestic production capacity are expected to reinforce this trend.

Population surge

The population is expected to grow in the Middle East by 20 million people towards 2029, of which 50% are under 25 years of age, commented Stig Munck Larsen, chief consultant at the Danish Agriculture and Food Council and chair of AVEC’s Trade Working Group.

“This new demographic landscape will increase poultry meat consumption both now and in the future,” Larsen said. “Despite growth in local production, the need for higher imports in the region is clear. Today, import demand is around 2.5 million tonnes with a modest and increasing trend in the coming years, although this demand will vary between countries.”

Forecasts through the 2030s suggest continued growth in the Middle East poultry market, driven by population growth, rising per capita consumption, and urbanisation. According to think tank IndexBox, by 2035, the market’s volume could approach 10 million tonnes and its value over USD$20 billion, increasing at a moderate compound annual growth rate around 1% in volume and 2.2% in value over the 2024-35 period.

Import momentum

For years, Brazil has dominated the import flows in the region, leveraging scale, competitive pricing, and halal-certified supply chains. But the competitive landscape is shifting. Suppliers from the EU, alongside Ukraine and Russia, and recently even Turkey, are increasingly targeting Middle Eastern buyers, seeking to diversify export destinations amid volatile demand at home and geopolitical headwinds.

“The Middle Eastern markets have for many years been attractive destinations for EU exports of poultry meat as fresh, frozen or processed products, especially to the Gulf states in the region,” Larsen said.

He noted that currently only around 5% of EU poultry meat exports find their destination in the Middle East, and mainly the Gulf States, corresponding to just above 100,000 tonnes.

Saudi Arabia and Iraq have consistently appeared among the top overseas buyers of Ukrainian poultry, but in 2025, Ukrainian exports to the Middle East were negatively affected by a rise in competition on the regional market, as revealed by Oleksandra Avramenko, head of the EU integration committee of UCAB.

Before 2022, Ukraine harboured ambitious plans to ramp up poultry exports to the region, but now the country sees its share in the region declining.

“The possible driver of such change was the loss of price competitiveness – the war has significantly increased both logistics costs and production costs,” Avramenko said. “This is compounded by logistical constraints affecting Black Sea ports, instability of routes and, consequently, delivery regularity, which is critical for importers in the region.”

Despite fluctuations, the wider MENA market remains strategic for Ukrainian companies – as a diversification pillar and an opportunity to serve different product segments, Avramenko emphasised.

Russia, on the contrary, sees a booming rise in exports to the Middle East. In 2024, sales to Gulf countries jumped by 57% to exceed 100,000 tonnes, with around 75% of volumes landing in Saudi Arabia.

Over the past several years, leading Russian poultry companies have prioritised halal certification to further boost sales to Muslim countries.

Price matters

European poultry producers could take advantage of high effectiveness and geographical proximity and expand sales to the Middle East in the coming years, but a difference in production standards with other key exporters constrains the rise in sales.

Polish poultry companies see exports to the Middle East as a very attractive direction for development, commented Katarzyna Gawrońska, director of Poland’s National Chamber of Poultry and Feed Producers.

“For now, however, sales to that part of the world are not a strong point of Polish enterprises,” Gawrońska said. “This is because, in trade with Arab countries, price remains the decisive factor. Meanwhile, the Polish poultry sector, as an industry subject to European Union regulations, has to bear higher production costs than competitors from other regions of the world.”

Poland’s poultry firms bet on product quality and hope it will play an increasingly important role in the future – and this is where they see their opportunity, Gawrońska stated.

ALSO READ: Outlook 2026: Global growth in poultry meat set to continue

The EU’s poultry meat production across the entire value chain is subject to very strict rules set out in EU legislation that apply directly in all member states, AVEC’s Larsen said.

“The back side of having a highly developed EU legislative framework that ensures high standards and reliability in poultry production is that it also increases costs across the entire value chain, from hatching to the consumer,” Larsen admitted.

Most global exports to the region are based on bulk shipments and low-priced products, mainly from Brazil and increasingly from Turkey, Ukraine, and, more recently, Asian countries.

“As Europeans, we see high production standards as an advantage for human health and food safety, and as a way to guarantee consumers a healthy and safe product. Globally, the same level of standards does not always apply, which creates differences in production and therefore in costs, reflected in export prices,” Larsen added.

Outlook and risks

Despite the challenges, European poultry firms remain committed to expanding sales to the Middle East in the coming years. “Currently, none of the countries in the Middle East are among the top 15 recipients of Polish poultry meat exports,” Gawrońska said, adding that the region is still expected to play an important role in Poland’s poultry export diversification push.

“For now, the strategic goal is portfolio diversification rather than broad-scale expansion plans. The need to geographically diversify exports has become even more evident over the past several months, during which the global trade order has been undergoing such radical changes,” Gawrońska said.

In the coming years, food protectionism can emerge as a powerful factor affecting the poultry market in the region. According to Larsen, Saudi Arabia’s share of poultry meat imports in the Gulf region exceeded 30% in 2025, but the country has an official target to be more than 70% self-sufficiency in poultry meat by 2030.

“On top of that, Saudi Arabia is about to implement a new Good Agriculture Practice for poultry meat and eggs, which can seriously challenge all poultry meat products entering the Saudi market,” Larsen said. “This move not only risks stopping all exports of poultry meat to Saudi Arabia and thereby creating a situation of undersupply, but also disrupts regional trade as significant volumes are pushed towards other markets in the region,” Larsen said.

Another potential risk, Larsen continued, is that other countries in the region may impose new protective import restrictions to safeguard their smaller local producers despite the necessity for imports.

Whether European poultry exporters can significantly expand their footprint in the Middle East may ultimately depend on regulation at home. As Brussels continues to tighten animal welfare, environmental, and production standards, compliance costs across the EU value chain are rising. The key question is whether these higher standards will translate into a competitive premium valued by Middle Eastern buyers or whether they will further widen the price gap and gradually cede market share to lower-cost global rivals.