According to a report by TRAFFIC International, which monitors trade in flora and fauna, the nest collecting industry was not very large in Southeast Asia in the 1930s. But by the end of the 1980s social and economic standards had become quite high in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan, and demand for birds 'nests soared.
根據野生動植物交易調查組織的報告指出，一九三○年代，東南亞的採燕工業不振，到了一九八○年代末期，由於香港、台灣、日本生活指數增高，燕窩需求也有戲劇性的增加。