Vietnam’s poultry sector maintains positive growth in the first nine months of 2026

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Vietnam’s poultry meat production reached 2.02 million tons in the first nine months of 2026, up 5.3% year-on-year, while the national poultry population continued to expand, according to official statistics.

The total poultry population increased by 3.1% at the end of September, with the chicken population rising by 3.5%, indicating that the sector’s growth momentum remained firm.

However, feed cost pressures, disease risks and the need to strengthen biosecurity continue to pose challenges for poultry producers.

According to data from the National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Finance, Vietnam’s livestock sector recorded growth across several animal categories during the first nine months of 2026, with poultry among the groups posting relatively strong increases in meat production.

Relatively stable consumer demand, coupled with the sector’s flexibility in adjusting production capacity, continued to support poultry farming activity.

Amid ongoing volatility in input costs and increasingly stringent market requirements for product quality, food safety and traceability, improving productivity, controlling disease and developing integrated production chains will be critical to sustaining the sector’s growth.

Poultry meat production rises 5.3% as chicken population expands

Vietnam’s poultry meat production totaled 2.02 million tons in the first nine months of 2026, representing a 5.3% increase compared with the same period in 2025.

At the end of September, the total poultry population was up 3.1% year-on-year, while the chicken population increased by 3.5%.

Notably, poultry meat production grew faster than the overall poultry population.

This points to continued production growth and may also reflect improvements in productivity and the efficiency of livestock production.

However, a comprehensive assessment would require further data on meat yield, mortality rates, production cycles and feed costs.

Poultry accounted for nearly 30% of total live weight meat production from pigs, poultry, buffaloes and cattle, making it the second-largest contributor after pork.

Given its important role in domestic food supply, Vietnam’s poultry sector retains considerable growth potential, provided producers can meet market expectations for quality, affordability and biosecurity.

One of the sector’s key advantages is its relatively short production cycle, faster capital turnover and flexibility in adjusting flock sizes to market demand.

These characteristics allow producers to respond more readily to changing market conditions.

Nevertheless, profitability remains heavily dependent on chick prices, feed costs, mortality rates and selling prices.

Several localities recorded notable increases in their poultry populations compared with the same period last year. Nghe An reported growth of 7.0%, followed by Ho Chi Minh City at 6.3%, Tay Ninh at 5.6%, Thanh Hoa at 4.8%, Dong Nai at 4.6% and Bac Ninh at 4.4%.

Growth across these localities indicates that poultry farming activity continues to expand or remain resilient in several production areas.

Differences in growth rates, however, also reflect variations in farming conditions, feed availability, investment capacity and production organization.

Feed costs and disease risks remain key challenges

Despite positive production growth, feed costs remain one of the main factors directly affecting the economic performance of poultry farms.

During the first nine months of 2026, livestock feed prices underwent several increases, adding to production cost pressures.

Small-scale producers often have limited access to competitively priced raw materials and face greater difficulties in securing reliable supplies.

As feed accounts for a substantial share of total production costs, fluctuations in input prices can erode profit margins and influence decisions on restocking and technology investment.

Disease prevention also remains a priority. Expanding flock sizes without appropriate biosecurity measures can increase the risk of disease transmission, resulting in economic losses and disruptions to poultry product supplies.

Poultry farms should strengthen controls over the movement of people and vehicles into production areas, maintain rigorous cleaning and disinfection protocols, ensure the quality of breeding stock, monitor flock health and implement vaccination programs in accordance with veterinary guidance.

For intensive farming operations, consistent disease prevention measures across the production process, from input management to the sale of finished products, are essential to reducing biosecurity risks.

In addition, increasingly stringent requirements for product quality, food safety and traceability are placing greater demands on the poultry industry.

Farms lacking adequate investment in housing, technology and waste management systems may struggle to improve productivity and meet market standards.

Strengthening biosecurity and developing integrated production chains

To sustain growth, Vietnam’s poultry sector needs to continue shifting towards intensive farming, stronger biosecurity and greater adoption of technology.

Closed-house systems and automated feeding and drinking equipment, alongside temperature and ventilation controls, can help improve housing conditions, reduce production losses and enhance feed efficiency.

Alongside technological investment, securing feed supplies is another important priority.

The livestock sector should promote domestic feed ingredient production, make appropriate use of agricultural by-products and explore cost-effective alternative ingredients while maintaining balanced nutrition and feed quality.

Strengthening cooperation among businesses, commercial farms and smallholder producers is another important avenue for development.

Integrated production models covering breeding stock and feed supply, technical and veterinary support, procurement, slaughtering, processing and distribution can help stabilize market outlets, improve quality control and reduce exposure to market risks.

For small-scale farmers, participation in cooperatives or integrated supply chains can provide access to more stable input supplies, technical guidance and established markets.

At the same time, wider adoption of documented farming practices, disease control protocols and traceability systems will help improve product transparency.

Alongside production growth, waste management and environmental protection must remain key priorities. Investing in waste collection and treatment systems suited to farm size can help reduce pollution and support more sustainable poultry production.

Meanwhile, pig farming also recorded growth, with live weight pork production reaching 4.28 million tonnes, up 4.4% year-on-year.

In contrast, the buffalo population fell by 6.4% and the cattle population declined by 1.6% at the end of September.

These trends highlight diverging developments across Vietnam’s livestock sub-sectors.

Overall, results for the first nine months of 2026 show that Vietnam’s poultry sector maintained positive growth in both meat production and flock size.

To build on this momentum during the remaining months of the year, the industry will need to focus on managing input costs, improving productivity, strengthening biosecurity and expanding integrated supply chains.

These efforts will be essential to enhancing competitiveness and ensuring a stable supply of poultry products to the domestic market.