The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its projection of poultry meat imports into Mexico through 2033.
In Mexico, poultry meat is the second most imported meat, behind pork.
For size: Mexican foreign purchases of poultry meat were 1 million 122,000 tons in 2023, while those of pork totaled 1 million 310,000 tons.
Projections
In prospective, USDA estimates that Mexican poultry imports will grow to $1.466 billion in 2033.
These are the trends for Mexican poultry meat imports, in thousands of tons:
- 2022: 1,063
- 2023: 1,122
- 2024: 1,172
- 2025: 1,197
- 2026: 1,223
- 2027: 1,264
Why does Mexico have high volumes of these imports?
- Because its population of 130 million consumes chicken meat in a wide variety of popular dishes.
- There is significant demand in Mexico for turkey meat in sausages and at Christmas dinners.
- Mexico has insufficient production to meet its domestic demand, due to factors such as the comparatively higher cost of inputs such as corn and soybeans, less progress in the average use of advanced technology compared to the United States and Canada, and lower investment than required in the sector.
Poultry meat imports into Mexico
According to the USDA, rising incomes and expanding urbanization will drive increased import demand for poultry in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. In these regions, imported poultry products remain cheaper than beef or pork. The USDA projects that poultry production in Mexico will grow, but at a slower pace than consumption.
Therefore, poultry imports into Mexico are expected to increase by more than 22% between 2025 and 2033, reaching 1.46 million tons. Likewise, the USDA forecasts that imports in Central America and the Caribbean will grow by about 19%, reaching 1 million tons in 2033.
Globally, poultry exports are forecast to increase 2% in 2025, with a record 13.8 million tons. This increase follows trade that was relatively stagnant in 2023 and 2024.