diff --git a/CHANGELOG/unreleased/kong/11515.yaml b/CHANGELOG/unreleased/kong/11515.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..28a3209034a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CHANGELOG/unreleased/kong/11515.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+message: Bumped the default value of `upstream_keepalive_pool_size` to `512` and `upstream_keepalive_max_requests` to `1000`
+type: performance
+scope: Configuration
+prs:
+  - 11515
+jiras:
+  - "FTI-4868"
diff --git a/kong.conf.default b/kong.conf.default
index e1d79288cfa2..0d6f1e7123a3 100644
--- a/kong.conf.default
+++ b/kong.conf.default
@@ -784,26 +784,26 @@
                                   # `text/html`, `application/json`, and
                                   # `application/xml`.
 
-#upstream_keepalive_pool_size = 60  # Sets the default size of the upstream
-                                    # keepalive connection pools.
-                                    # Upstream keepalive connection pools
-                                    # are segmented by the `dst ip/dst
-                                    # port/SNI` attributes of a connection.
-                                    # A value of `0` will disable upstream
-                                    # keepalive connections by default, forcing
-                                    # each upstream request to open a new
-                                    # connection.
-
-#upstream_keepalive_max_requests = 100  # Sets the default maximum number of
-                                        # requests than can be proxied upstream
-                                        # through one keepalive connection.
-                                        # After the maximum number of requests
-                                        # is reached, the connection will be
-                                        # closed.
-                                        # A value of `0` will disable this
-                                        # behavior, and a keepalive connection
-                                        # can be used to proxy an indefinite
-                                        # number of requests.
+#upstream_keepalive_pool_size = 512  # Sets the default size of the upstream
+                                     # keepalive connection pools.
+                                     # Upstream keepalive connection pools
+                                     # are segmented by the `dst ip/dst
+                                     # port/SNI` attributes of a connection.
+                                     # A value of `0` will disable upstream
+                                     # keepalive connections by default, forcing
+                                     # each upstream request to open a new
+                                     # connection.
+
+#upstream_keepalive_max_requests = 1000  # Sets the default maximum number of
+                                         # requests than can be proxied upstream
+                                         # through one keepalive connection.
+                                         # After the maximum number of requests
+                                         # is reached, the connection will be
+                                         # closed.
+                                         # A value of `0` will disable this
+                                         # behavior, and a keepalive connection
+                                         # can be used to proxy an indefinite
+                                         # number of requests.
 
 #upstream_keepalive_idle_timeout = 60   # Sets the default timeout (in seconds)
                                         # for which an upstream keepalive
@@ -939,6 +939,16 @@
                                             # at worst any regex Kong executes could finish within
                                             # roughly 2 seconds.
 
+#nginx_http_keepalive_requests = 1000  # Sets the maximum number of client requests that can be served through one
+                                       # keep-alive connection. After the maximum number of requests are made,
+                                       # the connection is closed.
+                                       # Closing connections periodically is necessary to free per-connection
+                                       # memory allocations. Therefore, using too high maximum number of requests
+                                       # could result in excessive memory usage and not recommended.
+                                       # See: https://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_core_module.html#keepalive_requests
+
+
+
 #------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # DATASTORE
 #------------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/kong/templates/kong_defaults.lua b/kong/templates/kong_defaults.lua
index 459318eaae25..8046bd80bcde 100644
--- a/kong/templates/kong_defaults.lua
+++ b/kong/templates/kong_defaults.lua
@@ -54,8 +54,8 @@ headers_upstream = x-kong-request-id
 trusted_ips = NONE
 error_default_type = text/plain
 upstream_keepalive = NONE
-upstream_keepalive_pool_size = 60
-upstream_keepalive_max_requests = 100
+upstream_keepalive_pool_size = 512
+upstream_keepalive_max_requests = 1000
 upstream_keepalive_idle_timeout = 60
 
 nginx_user = kong kong
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@ nginx_http_ssl_prefer_server_ciphers = NONE
 nginx_http_ssl_dhparam = NONE
 nginx_http_ssl_session_tickets = NONE
 nginx_http_ssl_session_timeout = NONE
+nginx_http_lua_regex_match_limit = 100000
+nginx_http_keepalive_requests = 1000
 nginx_stream_ssl_protocols = NONE
 nginx_stream_ssl_prefer_server_ciphers = NONE
 nginx_stream_ssl_dhparam = NONE
@@ -90,7 +92,6 @@ nginx_upstream_keepalive_timeout = NONE
 nginx_http_upstream_keepalive = NONE
 nginx_http_upstream_keepalive_requests = NONE
 nginx_http_upstream_keepalive_timeout = NONE
-nginx_http_lua_regex_match_limit = 100000
 
 client_max_body_size = 0
 client_body_buffer_size = 8k
diff --git a/spec/01-unit/04-prefix_handler_spec.lua b/spec/01-unit/04-prefix_handler_spec.lua
index 75143b3d20af..b1a9d5c29ee1 100644
--- a/spec/01-unit/04-prefix_handler_spec.lua
+++ b/spec/01-unit/04-prefix_handler_spec.lua
@@ -1002,7 +1002,7 @@ describe("NGINX conf compiler", function()
                            nil, true)
             assert.matches("daemon on;", contents, nil, true)
             assert.matches("listen 0.0.0.0:9000;", contents, nil, true)
-            assert.not_matches("keepalive", contents, nil, true)
+            assert.not_matches("keepalive%s+%d+", contents)
           end)
 
           it("'upstream_keepalive = 0' disables keepalive", function()