Global Animal Feed Market

Factors shaping the future of animal food production — such as increasing world population and animal protein demand, advances in production and feeding technologies, sustainability and environmental concerns, increasing awareness of animal health and welfare, legislative regulations, economic prosperity and increase in disposable income — also serve as the main driving factors for the growth of the global animal feed market. Although global feed tonnage has not increased much in recent years, there is an expectation of significant growth in market value. Even the lowest estimates indicate that the current value of the global animal feed market is well over USD 400 billion and will grow by over 4% in the upcoming years.

By Derya Yildiz
Compound feed, which plays a vital role in modern livestock farming, is a premixed mixture of various ingredients specially formulated to provide a balanced diet for farm animals. These ingredients typically include cereals, protein sources, additives such as vitamins, minerals, enzymes and probiotics. Formulated to meet the specific nutritional requirements of different animal species and life stages, compound feeds provide the right nutrients in the right proportions, ensuring complete and balanced nutrition for animals, improving growth, reproduction and general health, increasing feed efficiency and improving animal performance. Compound feeds, which also provide convenience to farmers, save time and labour by eliminating the need to mix the ingredients individually by hand. Although the initial cost of compound feed is higher than individual ingredients, reduced feed waste and optimised nutrient utilisation lead to lower feed costs. Some compound feeds contain sustainable ingredients and practices, reducing the environmental impact of livestock farming.

As a result, compound animal feed supports the efficiency and profitability of commercial farming by providing a convenient, balanced and cost-effective solution for animal nutrition.

GLOBAL COMPOUND FEED PRODUCTION
According to the data shared by the International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF), world compound feed production was 1 billion 245 thousand tonnes in 2022. Of this, 44% is poultry feed, 28% is pig feed, 13% is dairy feed, 8% is other ruminant feed and 4% is aquaculture feed.

The Agri-Food Outlook 2024 report prepared by Alltech provides more up-to-date data. According to this report, total compound feed production in 2023 was approximately 1 billion 295 million metric tons. This represents a modest decrease of 140 thousand metric tons or 0.01% compared to 2022. On a regional basis, Asia-Pacific is the largest producer with 475 million metric tons. It is followed by Europe with 261 million metric tons, North America with 259 million metric tons, Latin America with 200 million metric tons, Africa with 51 million metric tons, the Middle East with 35 million metric tons and Oceania with 10 million metric tons.

On a national basis, China is the world’s largest feed producer with approximately 262 million metric tons. It is followed by the USA with 238 million metric tons, Brazil with 83 million metric tons, India with 52 million metric tons, Mexico with 40 million metric tons, Spain with 36 million metric tons, Russia with 35 million metric tons, Vietnam with 24 million metric tons, Japan and Turkey with 23 million metric tons respectively. The total compound feed production amount of these 10 countries is around 820 million metric tons. This represents approximately 64% of the world compound feed production.

MARKET GROWTH EXPECTATIONS
Despite fluctuations in production, the value of the global animal feed market continues to increase year after year. According to a recent report by Polaris Market Research, the value of the global animal feed market will reach USD 588.50 billion in 2025, up from around USD 564.78 billion in 2024. Forecasting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.3% until 2034, the research firm forecasts the market to reach a size of USD 859.62 billion by 2034, indicating a strong growth path.

Future Market Insights‘ report points to a similar market size, but offers a higher forecast for the future. In its report, Future Market Insights put the size of the global animal feed market at USD 530.0 billion in 2023 and forecasts the market to reach USD 929.0 billion by 2033.

According to the report of Precedence Research, which has a slightly lower forecast compared to the research companies above, the size of the global animal feed market was USD 448.61 billion in 2023 and is estimated to be USD 465.65 billion in 2024. The company suggests that the market could reach USD 705.15 billion by 2034.

Mordor Intelligence, on the other hand, points to a significant increase with the figures it reports, but makes a lower estimate compared to other research companies. According to the company’s report, the global feed market, which will reach a value of USD 483.69 billion in 2025, will grow at a CAGR of 4.5% between 2025 and 2030, reaching a value of USD 602.76 billion.

FACTORS DRIVING MARKET GROWTH
Factors shaping the future of animal food production stand out as the major factors supporting the growth of the global animal feed market. Analysts list these factors as:

1. Growing Global Population and Animal Protein Demand: The world’s growing population requires a significant increase in food production to ensure global food security. In addition, as the disposable incomes of consumers in developing countries increase, the demand for animal proteins such as meat, milk and eggs is also increasing. This shift in both population growth and dietary preferences directly translates into a higher demand for animal feed.

2. Technological Developments in Feed Formulation and Production: Advancements in feed formulation and nutritional science have enabled the creation of highly specialised feeds tailored to the specific needs of different animal species, breeds and life stages. This approach, referred to as precision nutrition, offers great advantages in terms of maximising feed efficiency and animal performance, and encourages the use of customised compound feeds.

Automation in feed production processes is also improving production efficiency, reducing labour costs and increasing consistency in feed quality. Key trending technologies of recent years, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, are increasingly being used to better analyse available data, optimise feed formulations accordingly and improve farm management practices.

3. Focus on Sustainability and Environmental Concerns: The livestock industry is facing increasing pressure to minimise its environmental footprint. This has led to the development of more sustainable feed ingredients such as alternative protein sources like insects, algae and plant-based proteins. On the other hand, the adoption of circular economy principles, such as recycling and reusing agricultural by-products as feed ingredients, is also gaining attention by reducing waste and promoting resource efficiency. The appropriate incorporation of all these into animal nutrition is possible with compound feeds.

4. Importance Given to Animal Health and Welfare: The inclusion of prebiotics, probiotics and other functional ingredients in animal feed helps to improve gut health, enhance immune function and reduce dependence on antibiotics. The use of high quality, nutritionally balanced compound feeds contribute to improved animal health, welfare and overall productivity.

5. Livestock Activities in Emerging Markets: Developing economies, particularly in Asia Pacific, are experiencing rapid growth in livestock production. Countries such as China and India have large and growing livestock sectors, fuelling demand for animal feed.

6. Government Regulations and Subsidies: Government policies that promote sustainable livestock production, support research and development in animal nutrition, and encourage the adoption of innovative feeding practices can also significantly influence market growth.

All these factors mean more demand for compound feeds that offer significant advantages in terms of animal health, performance and welfare and support sustainable food production, contributing to market growth.

FACTORS LIMITING MARKET GROWTH
While the global animal feed market offers significant opportunities, several factors could potentially limit its growth. According to analysts, these challenges are as follows:

1. Volatility in Raw Material Prices: Prices of key feed ingredients such as grains (corn, soybeans), oilseeds, and fishmeal are subject to significant fluctuations from time to time due to factors such as weather conditions, geopolitical events, and global supply and demand dynamics. These fluctuations can directly affect the profitability of feed producers and farmers, leading to higher production costs.

2. Competition for Resources and Environmental Concerns: Increasing demand for arable land and water resources for both food and feed production is creating a competitive environment. According to experts, this may limit the availability and affordability of key feed ingredients. In addition, the intensive use of resources leads to environmental concerns such as deforestation, water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Measures to address these concerns may increase production costs and potentially limit market growth.

3. Strict Regulations and Compliance Issues: Increasingly strict regulations on food safety, animal welfare and environmental sustainability may increase production costs and compliance burdens for feed producers.

4. Epidemics and Pandemics: Epidemics such as avian influenza and African swine fever can significantly disrupt livestock production, leading to reduced demand for feed and economic losses for farmers. Such outbreaks can also disrupt the supply chains of feed raw materials and finished products, thus affecting the availability and affordability of feed.

5. Economic Downturns: Economic downturns may lead to reduced consumer spending on animal protein, affecting feed demand and potentially slowing market growth.

6. Competition from Alternative Protein Sources: The increasing demand for plant-based and laboratory-produced meat products poses a challenge for the traditional animal feed market. As consumers turn to alternative protein sources, demand for traditional animal products, and hence animal feed, may decline.

7. Emerging Markets and Competitive Environment: The emergence of new players and technologies in the animal feed market may increase competition and create pressure on existing players to innovate and increase productivity.

COMPOUND FEED PRODUCTION AND MARKET SITUATION BY ANIMAL SPECIES
The global animal feed market is a dynamic and diverse industry that fulfils the nutritional needs of various animal species. Each species has specific nutritional requirements and the market has evolved to meet these needs effectively.

Poultry feed, for example, is the largest segment in the global animal feed market due to the high demand for chicken and eggs, which are seen as affordable sources of protein worldwide. Growing global population, urbanisation leading to increased demand for convenient and readily available protein sources, as well as rapid expansion of poultry farming in emerging economies are the major drivers of growth in this segment.

The poultry segment also ranks first in global feed production. According to forecasts in the Alltech Agri-Food Outlook 2024, broiler feed production in the poultry group increased by 3.4% to 386.33 million metric tons in 2023, while egg feed production increased slightly to 171.293 million metric tons. The largest share in broiler feed production belongs to the Asia-Pacific region with 160.67 million metric tons. It is followed by Latin America with 74.33 million metric tons and North America with 61.85 million metric tons. In layer feeds, Asia-Pacific ranked first with 80.40 million metric tons, followed by Europe with 31.40 million metric tons and Latin America with 27.16 million metric tons.

Ruminant feed is an important segment in the compound feed market that caters to both beef and dairy production. Increasing consumer demand for meat and dairy products and farmers’ efforts to improve meat and milk quality and efficiency are fuelling the growth of this segment. However, fluctuating prices of key feed ingredients such as corn and soybean and environmental concerns related to methane emissions from ruminant farming pose several challenges to the market growth of this feed segment.

According to the Alltech report, world dairy feed production decreased by 1.12% to 127.92 million metric tons in 2023. Europe had the largest share in world dairy feed production with 40.46 million metric tons. It was followed by North America with 28.20 million metric tons and Asia-Pacific with 25.23 million metric tons. Asia-Pacific region recorded the only increase of 4.52% in dairy feed production in 2023.

Cattle feed production in 2023 decreased by 3.78% compared to the previous year to 119.56 million metric tons. North America was the largest cattle feed producer with 63.25 million metric tons. It was followed by Europe with 17.54 million metric tons (down 6.84% year-on-year) and Asia-Pacific with 16.08 million metric tons.

Pig feed is exhibiting significant growth in the global feed market due to increasing global pork consumption. Income growth in developing countries and increasing demand for processed meat products are among the main factors driving growth here.

In global pig feed production, which reached 323.04 million metric tons in 2023, the Asia-Pacific region again stands out with 138.72 million metric tons. In this segment, Asia-Pacific region was followed by Europe with 74.85 million metric tons and North America with 62.39 million metric tons.

Aqua feed is one of the fastest growing segments of the animal feed market, driven by increasing global demand for seafood. Growing global population, exhaustion of wild fish stocks, and increasing consumer preference for seafood are the drivers of growth in this segment.

Although the production of aqua feeds showed an upward trend in many regions of the world, total production decreased by 4.41% in 2023 to 52.09 million metric tons, according to Alltech data. The largest regional share in aquafeed production belongs to Asia-Pacific with 35.70 million metric tons.

The pet food market is also a notable segment owing to the rising trend towards humanisation of pets and the increasing number of pet owners. This market includes a wide range of products tailored to the specific needs of dogs, cats and other pets.

In 2023, production in this segment increased by 2.66% to 35.44 million metric tons. Europe is the largest pet food producer on a regional basis with 11.45 million metric tons of production. It was followed by North America with 11.34 million metric tons and Latin America with 8.67 million metric tons.

COMPOUND FEED PRODUCTION AND MARKET SITUATION ON A REGIONAL BASIS
The global animal feed market exhibits different growth trends in different regions depending on factors such as economic development, dietary habits and livestock production practices.

Asia-Pacific, the world’s largest feed producer, is currently the region with the largest share in the global feed market due to rapid economic growth, increasing population and rising demand for animal protein. According to forecasts in Alltech Agri-Food Outlook 2024, feed production in the region increased by 1.40% to 475.33 million metric tons in 2023. In the same period, production in China, the world’s and the region’s largest feed producer, is estimated to have increased by 0.76% to 262.71 million metric tons. Pig feed ranked first in China’s production with 100.40 million metric tons, followed by broiler feed with 94.63 million metric tons, layer feed with 32.09 million metric tons and aqua feed with 21.42 million metric tons. India, the second largest producer in the region, is estimated to have achieved a record increase of 13.43% in feed production and increased its production to 52.83 million metric tons. The largest share in India’s feed production belongs to broiler feed with 19.72 million metric tons. This is followed by layer feed with 16.14 million metric tons and dairy feed with 13.94 million metric tons.

Increasing disposable income, urbanisation and changing dietary habits in Asia-Pacific are increasing the demand for animal products such as meat, milk and eggs by consumers in the region and are the driving factors for the growth of the feed market. In some reports, the market is estimated to reach a value of USD 99 billion in 2030, growing at a CAGR of 7.31% from 2024 to 2029.

The Americas, especially North America, is characterised as a mature market with well-established livestock farming systems. According to the estimated data compiled by Alltech, North America, which ranks third in world compound feed production with 259.26 million metric tons, produced 2.82% less feed in 2023 compared to the previous year. The US, the world’s second largest feed producer with 238.09 million metric tons in 2023, is the leading producer in the region. The country produces about 62 million metric tons of cattle feed, about 58 million metric tons of broiler feed and 54 million metric tons of pig feed. In Latin America, feed production is estimated to have increased by 1.24% in 2023, reaching 200.67 million metric tons. Brazil, the largest feed producer in the region and the third largest in the world, increased its feed production by 1.84% to 83.32 million metric tons in the same period. Broiler feed production in the country was approximately 36 million metric tons and pig feed production was approximately 21 million metric tons.

Growing demand for high quality animal protein, expansion of livestock farming, focus on animal health and welfare, and increasing adoption of advanced feeding technologies are the key factors driving the growth of the feed market in the Americas, especially in North America. The total value of the animal feed market in the region is expected to reach USD 237 billion by 2029.

Europe, which ranked second in world feed production on a regional basis with 261.89 million metric tons in 2023, experienced a 2.82% decrease in production compared to the previous year, according to Alltech data. Spain with 36.22 million metric tons, Russia with 35.46 million metric tons and Turkey with 23.37 million metric tons stand out as the top three countries producing the most compound feed in the region. In Spain, pig feed ranks first among all feed types with a production of about 17 million metric tons. Production of dairy feed, cattle feed, broiler feed and layer feed is between 2 and 5 million metric tons. The main feed type produced in Russia is pig feed. Pig feed production in the country is approximately 13 million metric tons, followed by broiler feed with approximately 10 million metric tons.

The region has a market structure that focuses on sustainability, animal welfare and environmental protection. This situation increases the demand in the market for organic and specialised feeds. Despite challenges such as animal diseases and geopolitical tensions, the market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 2.64% between 2024 and 2029, reaching a value of USD 85 billion in 2029.

Africa and the Middle East offer significant growth potential due to increasing population, rising incomes and growing urbanisation. Development of livestock farming, especially in the poultry and aquaculture sectors, and increasing demand for animal protein are fuelling the growth of the regional feed market. According to the Alltech report, Africa was the second region with the highest increase in feed production with 1.94% in 2023. With this increase, the region’s compound feed production reached 51.42 million metric tons. The Middle East, on the other hand, lags behind the other regions in terms of quantity in animal feed production. It is estimated that 35.93 million metric tons of feed was produced in the region in 2023.

Although the market, led by countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and South Africa, is expected to register significant growth in the coming years, issues such as limited access to resources, inadequate infrastructure and food security are listed as the challenges the region faces.

References
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