Current Asian trends in egg production and consumption: a demand analysis of selected countries

Although in the western world there has been a long term decline in the con sumption of eggs, Asian egg consumption is on an upward trend, even in deve loped Asian nations like Japan. However, the latter part of the 1990s has s een a slower rate of growth in consumption. This study represents an attemp t to analyse the present state of affairs by estimating the income elastici ty of demand for eggs in selected countries. The annual increase in the con sumption of eggs is high because of the very low consumption in developing countries. Production is also on the increase as a result of improvements i n local breeds and the ready availability of high yielding birds even in ru ral areas. Based on estimates, countries were categorised into three groups - those of high income elasticity (Malaysia, China), medium elasticity (Sr i Lanka, Pakistan) and low elasticity (Japan, Korea). Increasing disposable household income will continue to result in an expansion in the production and consumption of eggs in Asia. By the year 2010 over 60% of the world's population will live in Asia; furthermore, the growth in disposable income and purchasing power coupled with rapidly changing food habits will make eg gs one of the more popular protein-rich foods with both the rural and urban populations in Asia.