Approximately 13.7 billion eggs were produced in 2024 by companies operating with at least 3,000 laying hens in Germany, according to data from the Federal Statistical Office (Statistisches Bundesamt).
This figure represents an increase of 4.2%, or 550 million eggs, compared to the previous year.
Overall, the average number of laying hens in these operations was 45.3 million, yielding an average of 302 eggs per hen during 2024.
The report indicates a continuing trend towards increased production in free-range and organic methods over the past five years, while traditional floor rearing remains prevalent yet gradually declining.
Production Methods
The dominant production method was floor rearing, which accounted for 58.0% of the total egg production in 2024, despite a slight decline from 58.8% in the previous year.
In comparison, the proportion of free-range eggs increased to 23.6% in 2024, from 23.0% in 2023 and 19.5% in 2019.
Additionally, organic egg production rose to 14.1% in 2024, up from 13.4% in 2023 and 11.5% in 2019.
The remaining 4.3% of production was derived from small-group and furnished cage systems, a share that has also declined from 4.9% in 2023 and 6.1% in 2019.
Regions Of Production
In floor rearing, the average number of laying hens increased by 1.0% to 26.1 million, resulting in a production rise of 2.8% to 7.9 billion eggs.
Regional data indicate that approximately 34.4% of these eggs were produced in Lower Saxony, with additional contributions from Nordrhein-Westfalen, Sachsen, and Brandenburg.
In the free-range method, the number of laying hens grew by 5.1% to 10.7 million, and production increased by 7.1% to 3.2 billion eggs, with Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Bayern being the primary producing regions.
Meanwhile, organic production saw the number of laying hens increase by 6.4% to 6.5 million, and egg production rose by 9.6% to 1.9 billion eggs, with a substantial proportion originating in Lower Saxony, Bayern and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Conversely, eggs produced using small-group and furnished cages experienced a decrease in hens by 3.8% to 2.0 million, and a corresponding fall in egg production by 8.2% to 588 million, largely due to regulatory restrictions that allow this method only until the end of 2025.
