Overview of Global Livestock and Feed Production
In 2024, global animal feed production reached 1.396 billion metric tons, an increase of 1.2% compared to the previous year, despite facing inflation, high raw material costs, climate change, and geopolitical conflicts.
Key regions with notable growth:
- Africa led with a 7.2% increase, driven by small-scale farm models and local support.
- Latin America and Europe grew by 3.6% and 2.7%, respectively.
- Asia–Pacific saw a slight decline of 0.8%, primarily due to China’s production control policies. However, Vietnam and India maintained positive growth momentum.
Poultry feed led the sector, accounting for 42.7% of total production, followed by dairy and pig feed. Notably, pet food saw the highest growth at 4.5%.
Feed Production by Livestock Sector
(*) “Other” includes small livestock such as rabbits, deer, antelope, camels; specialty birds such as quail and pheasants; and other rare species raised in farms or controlled environments.
Global feed mills increased by 428, reaching 28,230 facilities. The Asia–Pacific region contributed the most with 584 new mills, while Europe and North America saw slight declines due to restructuring and consolidation.
Number of Feed Mills by Region
Aquaculture
Vietnam's seafood exports rebounded strongly in the first four months of 2025, reaching approximately USD 3.3 billion, 21% increase YoY. Exports to the US reached nearly USD 500 million, up 7%.
Shrimp exports for the same period reached USD 1.27 billion, a 30% increase. In April’25, exports hit USD 330.8 million, driven by strong demand from China, the EU, and Japan. With raw shrimp prices recovering, farmers began earning profits. However, domestic production continues to face challenges due to environmental pollution, unfavorable weather, disease outbreaks, and low farming success rates—leading to a shortage of raw shrimp supply. Farming activity remains sluggish in the Mekong Delta as farmers are wary of high risks. In the second half of 2025, raw shrimp prices are expected to remain high, but supply shortages may persist if weather and disease are not well managed. Digital transformation and high-tech shrimp farming will be inevitable trends, especially for large farms and enterprises.
Pangasius production is projected at approximately 1.65 million tons in 2025, slightly down from 2024 but still meeting export targets. Export value is expected to reach USD 2 billion, the same as the previous year. Early 2025 saw positive momentum, with USD 284 million in pangasius exports in the first two months—11% higher than the same period in 2024. China and Hong Kong remain the leading markets.
Trends in Cattle and Poultry Farming in Vietnam (2025)
- Cattle: Increased fattening of Australian cattle is pushing internal feed demand. Domestic cattle farming is slow due to challenges in exports to China.
- Pigs: Some feed companies with farms increased pig stocking due to good profitability, although disease risks persist. Large private farms have sufficient replacement pigs, but disease risk encourages the sale of piglets. Small farms often buy piglets or breed sows from meat herds. The risk of disease can cause sows to incubate more diseases. Farms buying pigs under 100kg for fattening are still very developed..
- Poultry: Growth in colored chicken production; sharp increase in white chicken and duck farming. Household farming of layer chickens, colored chickens, and ducks declined to rebalance supply and demand.
Imported Feed Ingredients in Vietnam
Vietnam’s animal feed imports in the first four months of 2025 reached over USD 1.57 billion, down 6.9% compared to the same period in 2024. April saw an 11% increase from March but an 18.1% decrease YoY, totaling USD 408.36 million.
Top import sources:
- Argentina led with 43.5% share, up 75.8%.
- Brazil ranked second with 14.9%, up 1.2%.
- USA declined sharply by 46.6%, with a 14.5% share.
Sources:
