Because poultry has a very short life cycle and poultry products are traded internationally, data on regional flock sizes are difficult to interpret. Estimates of world poultry meat production in metric tonnes are detailed in Table 2.
The largest increase in poultry meat production took place in S America, particularly in the mid 1980's. The increase in developing countries has generally been higher than in developed countries but the impact is reduced because the increase in human population has been greater. Poultry production is three times population growth in developed countries but only double population growth in less developed countries.