diff --git a/conf/broker.conf b/conf/broker.conf
index 5a2611cecb8fe..95f0049ed7284 100644
--- a/conf/broker.conf
+++ b/conf/broker.conf
@@ -143,7 +143,9 @@ webServiceLogDetailedAddresses=
 # Number of threads to config Netty Acceptor. Default is 1
 numAcceptorThreads=
 
-# Number of threads to use for Netty IO. Default is set to 2 * Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors()
+# Number of threads to use for Netty IO. Default is set to half the available processors, but no fewer than 8 unless
+# that exceeds twice the available processors: Math.min(2 * n, Math.max(8, n / 2)) for n available processors.
+# Increase it when the busiest pulsar-io thread stays busy and consumers' backlogs grow
 numIOThreads=
 
 # Number of threads to use for ordered executor. The ordered executor is used to operate with zookeeper,
diff --git a/conf/standalone.conf b/conf/standalone.conf
index b9e8facabe8d9..9ee816d1c4d9a 100644
--- a/conf/standalone.conf
+++ b/conf/standalone.conf
@@ -100,7 +100,9 @@ webServiceTrustXForwardedFor=false
 # Defaults to true when either webServiceHaProxyProtocolEnabled or webServiceTrustXForwardedFor is enabled.
 webServiceLogDetailedAddresses=
 
-# Number of threads to use for Netty IO. Default is set to 2 * Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors()
+# Number of threads to use for Netty IO. Default is set to half the available processors, but no fewer than 8 unless
+# that exceeds twice the available processors: Math.min(2 * n, Math.max(8, n / 2)) for n available processors.
+# Increase it when the busiest pulsar-io thread stays busy and consumers' backlogs grow
 numIOThreads=
 
 # Number of threads to use for ordered executor. The ordered executor is used to operate with zookeeper,
diff --git a/deployment/terraform-ansible/templates/broker.conf b/deployment/terraform-ansible/templates/broker.conf
index 8f329d0094229..5e2cc0fd49e93 100644
--- a/deployment/terraform-ansible/templates/broker.conf
+++ b/deployment/terraform-ansible/templates/broker.conf
@@ -56,7 +56,9 @@ advertisedAddress={{ hostvars[inventory_hostname].private_ip }}
 # The Default value is absent, the broker uses the first listener as the internal listener.
 # internalListenerName=
 
-# Number of threads to use for Netty IO. Default is set to 2 * Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors()
+# Number of threads to use for Netty IO. Default is set to half the available processors, but no fewer than 8 unless
+# that exceeds twice the available processors: Math.min(2 * n, Math.max(8, n / 2)) for n available processors.
+# Increase it when the busiest pulsar-io thread stays busy and consumers' backlogs grow
 numIOThreads=
 
 # Number of threads to use for HTTP requests processing. Default is set to 2 * Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors()
diff --git a/pulsar-broker-common/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/ServiceConfiguration.java b/pulsar-broker-common/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/ServiceConfiguration.java
index fad7fcd421c61..df0ec5e0b7f6f 100644
--- a/pulsar-broker-common/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/ServiceConfiguration.java
+++ b/pulsar-broker-common/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/ServiceConfiguration.java
@@ -337,9 +337,20 @@ public class ServiceConfiguration implements PulsarConfiguration {
     @FieldContext(
         category = CATEGORY_SERVER,
         doc = "Number of threads to use for Netty IO."
-            + " Default is set to `2 * Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors()`"
+            + " Default is set to half the available processors, but no fewer than 8 unless that exceeds twice the"
+            + " available processors: `Math.min(2 * n, Math.max(8, n / 2))` for n available processors."
+            + " Increase it when the busiest pulsar-io thread stays busy and consumers' backlogs grow"
     )
-    private int numIOThreads = 2 * Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors();
+    private int numIOThreads = defaultNumIOThreads(Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors());
+
+    /**
+     * The default number of Netty IO threads for the given number of available processors: half of them, but no fewer
+     * than 8 unless that exceeds twice the processors. Fewer, busier event loops batch more work per wakeup and
+     * system call, and the threads that hand work over to them, such as a managed ledger's, wake them less often.
+     */
+    static int defaultNumIOThreads(int availableProcessors) {
+        return Math.min(2 * availableProcessors, Math.max(8, availableProcessors / 2));
+    }
 
     @FieldContext(
         category = CATEGORY_SERVER,
diff --git a/pulsar-broker-common/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/ServiceConfigurationDefaultsTest.java b/pulsar-broker-common/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/ServiceConfigurationDefaultsTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..b307c08721078
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pulsar-broker-common/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/ServiceConfigurationDefaultsTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.pulsar.broker;
+
+import static org.testng.Assert.assertEquals;
+import org.testng.annotations.Test;
+
+public class ServiceConfigurationDefaultsTest {
+    @Test
+    public void defaultNumIOThreads() {
+        // up to 4 processors, the previous default of twice the processors
+        assertEquals(ServiceConfiguration.defaultNumIOThreads(1), 2);
+        assertEquals(ServiceConfiguration.defaultNumIOThreads(2), 4);
+        assertEquals(ServiceConfiguration.defaultNumIOThreads(3), 6);
+        assertEquals(ServiceConfiguration.defaultNumIOThreads(4), 8);
+        // 8 from 4 up to 17 processors
+        assertEquals(ServiceConfiguration.defaultNumIOThreads(5), 8);
+        assertEquals(ServiceConfiguration.defaultNumIOThreads(7), 8);
+        assertEquals(ServiceConfiguration.defaultNumIOThreads(8), 8);
+        assertEquals(ServiceConfiguration.defaultNumIOThreads(16), 8);
+        assertEquals(ServiceConfiguration.defaultNumIOThreads(17), 8);
+        // half the processors from 18 up
+        assertEquals(ServiceConfiguration.defaultNumIOThreads(18), 9);
+        assertEquals(ServiceConfiguration.defaultNumIOThreads(32), 16);
+        assertEquals(ServiceConfiguration.defaultNumIOThreads(128), 64);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void numIOThreadsDefaultsToDefaultNumIOThreadsOfTheAvailableProcessors() {
+        assertEquals(new ServiceConfiguration().getNumIOThreads(),
+                ServiceConfiguration.defaultNumIOThreads(Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors()));
+    }
+}