In Chicken Meat Exports During the First Four Months of 2025, Mexico Stood Out in Volume and the Netherlands in Revenue

In the first four months of 2025, despite a 9.25% increase in total Brazilian chicken meat exports, the volume shipped to the top 10 importers grew by only 3.39%. This was mainly due to a decline in exports to four countries: the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and Iraq—the first three ranked second, third, and fourth among Brazil’s top 10 chicken meat importers.

While the combined drop in exports to the three Middle Eastern countries was significant—around 15,000 tons less than in 2024—the most substantial decline came from Japan, where volumes fell by 18.12%, representing over 27,000 tons less than in the same period of 2024.

This drop might suggest Japan is sourcing chicken from other exporters, but data from Japan’s Agriculture & Livestock Industries Corporation (ALIC) indicates otherwise. In the first quarter of 2025, Japanese chicken meat imports fell by 12.5%. Only Thailand increased its supply (+4.24%), accounting for just 31.8% of Japan’s total imports, while Brazil remained the dominant supplier with a 67% share. The remaining share (just over 1%) came from the United States.

In any case, the decline among those four importers was offset not only by the other six top importers but especially by the remaining 151 importers not included in the top 10 ranking, whose imports rose by nearly 19% over the four months.

Check out below a historical overview of Brazilian chicken exports. The chart was prepared using DataLiner resources:

Brazilian Chicken Exports | Brazil | Jan 2022 – Mar 2025 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Among the top 10, the most notable performance came from Mexico, which jumped from 11th to 7th place this year thanks to a 78.5% increase in imported volume. The additional 30,851 tons imported by Mexico accounted for 20% of the total growth of 153,427 tons in Brazilian exports.

In terms of revenue, the main highlight, if not for the growth rate itself, was the Netherlands, whose imports amounted to nearly USD 200 million, placing the country as the fifth-largest source of foreign revenue for Brazilian chicken. This was largely due to high-value-added imports, particularly salted chicken cuts, which accounted for 55% of the Netherlands’ total chicken meat imports from Brazil.

Source: AviSite

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