In which country are all egg-laying chickens cage-free?

Animal welfare has become a global concern, and efforts in this aspect provide powerful reminders of how consumers, NGOs, and corporations can work together to bring about meaningful change.While many countries are dependent on legal mandates to regulate farming conditions, a country recently did something exceptional voluntarily. Without a government-imposed ban, it has fully eliminated the use of cages in egg production and set all birds free.Sweden has now become the first country in the world where no egg‑laying hens are kept in cages, and it achieved this milestone without any legal ban, according to animal welfare group Project 1882.In 1988, the Swedish Parliament initially voted to ban cage systems, but the promise was not followed through, and “enriched” cages continued to be used, formally allowed under amended legislation. When Project 1882 began its campaign in the early 2000s, cages still confined about 40% of laying hens in Sweden. Since then, more than 85 companies, from retailers to foodservice chains, have committed to phasing out cage eggs from their supply lines.According to Project 1882 by 2024, cage-based systems had dropped to under 1%, saving over 90,000 hens in a single year, and by 2025, all cages were confirmed empty, freeing over 17 million hens from confinement since 2008.Particularly notable is that Sweden made this change through corporate and consumer action, not legislation. Project 1882’s CEO, Benny Andersson, said to the Human Progress that “this milestone is a victory that comes on the heels of grassroots activism and public pressure from consumers, not government legislation”. Sweden created a broad-based movement to phase out cages across the poultry sector.Compared to European Union rules, Sweden also enforces stricter stocking density limits. While EU legislation permits up to approximately. 46 hens per 10 ft², Swedish standards cap density at about 39 hens per 10 ft². Additionally, Sweden’s Animal Welfare Act mandates that farm animals be provided care “appropriate to their physiological and ethological needs”—further strengthening protections.However, animal welfare advocates caution that without binding legislation, the progress could be reversed. Project 1882 is now calling for a legal ban on cage‑housing to prevent future backsliding and to set a model for the rest of Europe.Sweden’s story offers a powerful example that sustained consumer pressure and corporate responsibility can deliver systemic reform. As other European nations move toward phasing out cages, Sweden presents a compelling template for voluntary transformation.