The egg industry in the UK

Based on data provided by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs of the United Kingdom (2023) – processed by Our World in Data. The data is based on a sample and accounts for 75% of eggs packed in the UK. Note: Between early 2022 and 2023, free-range hens were transferred to barns to prevent avian influenza outbreaks.

While the majority of boxed eggs in supermarkets now hail from cage-free systems, these too come with their own cruelty. In barn systems, without cages, hens are afforded very little space – the equivalent to about one and a half A4 sheets of paper.

In free range systems they can be kept inside 16 hours a week