Belgian dairies produced 25% more cheese in 2024

Compared to the previous five years (2019-2023), Belgian dairies produced more cheese (+25%), more fresh dairy products (+10%) and more condensed milk and whey (+7%) in 2024. The production of mozzarella (+31%) and fresh cheese (+102%) in particular contributed to this increase. Together, they account for 80% of the 137,000 tonnes of cheese produced in Belgium: 87,000 tonnes of mozzarella and 22,000 tonnes of fresh cheese. There were declines in the production of milk powders (-10%), drinking milk (-5%) and farm butter (-4%). This is what emerged from the new results of Statbel, the Belgian statistical office.
Drinking milk remains the main product group
Drinking milk, milk drinks and fresh dairy products remain the most important products in the Belgian dairy industry. In 2024, the total production of drinking milk (chocolate milk and milk with added vitamins included) amounted to 795 million litres.
As for drinking milk, semi-skimmed milk is produced the most, although its production has decreased by 9% in 2024 compared to the last 5 years. Whole milk, on the other hand, is gaining ground with a 3% increase. The production of milk with added vitamins recovered in 2024 after a sharp decline in 2022 and 2023.
in 1000 litres | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Difference 2024/2023 | Difference 2024/5-year average |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Drinking milk | 857,913 | 892,986 | 830,886 | 817,845 | 800,722 | 794,916 | -0.7% | -5.4% |
whole milk | 228,184 | 237,808 | 223,720 | 225,595 | 225,686 | 234,265 | +3.8% | +2.7% |
semi-skimmed milk | 383,515 | 407,862 | 364,213 | 358,869 | 356,111 | 341,687 | -4.1% | -8.7% |
skimmed milk | 44,145 | 49,892 | 40,889 | 38,791 | 37,227 | 35,038 | -5.9% | -16.9% |
buttermilk | 17,850 | 21,153 | 20,553 | 22,793 | 22,120 | 20,810 | -5.9% | -0.4% |
milk drinks | ||||||||
chocolate milk | 141,177 | 146,382 | 159,359 | 153,251 | 141,989 | 141,855 | -0.1% | -4.4% |
milk with added vitamins | 43,043 | 29,890 | 22,152 | 18,546 | 17,588 | 21,262 | +20.9% | -19.0% |
Source (mandatory acknowledgement): Directorate-General Statistics - Statistics Belgium |
Increase in the production of fresh dairy products
Fresh dairy products such as yoghurt, fermented milk drinks, cream and desserts are the second largest category in the Belgian dairy production with a total production volume of 732 million litres. The entire category increased by 9% in 2024 compared to the previous five years. Desserts (+14%), fermented milk (+10%) and cream (+8%) contributed the most to this growth. The production increase of yoghurt remains limited to 4%.
in 1000 litres | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Difference 2024/2023 | Difference 2024/5-year average |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fresh dairy products | 649,432 | 632,620 | 683,092 | 682,545 | 696,741 | 732,115 | +5.1% | +9.5% |
yoghurt | 46,986 | 49,699 | 51,754 | 53,736 | 53,760 | 53,080 | -1.3% | +3.7% |
fermented milk | 248,188 | 262,038 | 273,177 | 255,094 | 253,743 | 284,388 | +12.1% | +10.0% |
consumer cream | 247,180 | 227,309 | 251,146 | 256,931 | 268,284 | 270,632 | +0.9% | +8.2% |
desserts | 107,079 | 93,575 | 107,015 | 116,783 | 120,953 | 124,015 | +2.5% | +13.7% |
Source (mandatory acknowledgement): Directorate-General Statistics - Statistics Belgium |
The production of farm butter continues to decrease
In 2024, 64,000 tonnes of farm butter were produced, or a decrease of 4% compared to the last five years.
in tonnes | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Difference 2024/2023 | Difference 2024/5-year average |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Farm butter | 64,494 | 63,124 | 67,445 | 71,534 | 68,862 | 64,336 | -6.6% | -4.1% |
Source (mandatory acknowledgement): Directorate-General Statistics - Statistics Belgium |
Cheese production continues to rise thanks to mozzarella and fresh cheese
In 2024, some 137,000 tonnes of cheese were produced in Belgium. Mozzarella production increased by 31% to 87,000 tonnes, accounting for 63% of the Belgian cheese production. The production of fresh cheese also saw a striking increase of 102% compared to the five-year average, with a production of 22,000 tonnes.
in tonnes | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Difference 2024/2023 | Difference 2024/5-year average |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cheese | 104,837 | 103,435 | 109,002 | 109,486 | 122,912 | 137,433 | +11.8% | +25.0% |
Fresh | 7,300 | 7,491 | 12,364 | 12,981 | 14,548 | 22,074 | +51.7% | +101.8% |
Gouda | 8,415 | 10,078 | 10,470 | 8,679 | 8,764 | 9,678 | +10.4% | +4.3% |
Mozzarella | 61,055 | 60,672 | 62,571 | 68,571 | 80,870 | 87,234 | +7.9% | +30.7% |
Other natural cheese | 28,067 | 25,193 | 23,597 | 19,255 | 18,730 | 18,446 | -1.5% | -19.7% |
Goat's cheese | 9,843 | 10,078 | 7,368 | 9,782 | 10,131 | 9,315 | -8.1% | -1.3% |
Source (mandatory acknowledgement): Directorate-General Statistics - Statistics Belgium |
More condensed milk, less milk powder and ice cream
In the remaining categories, the production of consumer ice cream is declining. While in 2019, 66,000 litres of ice cream were still produced, in 2024, only 60,000 litres were produced, i.e. a decrease of 5% compared to the average productions of the period 2019-2023.
The production of milk powder, totalling 218,000 tonnes, fell by 10%. There is a particular decline in the production of unskimmed milk powder (-31%), and other milk powders (such as those for baby or sports nutrition) also fell in production (-51%).
However, the production of condensed milk and whey rose by 7%. This brings the production level to 66,000 tonnes for 2024.
in 1,000 litres or tonne | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Difference 2024/2023 | Difference 2024/5-year average |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Consumer ice cream | 66,389 | 63,629 | 63,843 | 63,314 | 59,516 | 59,924 | +0.7% | -5.4% |
Milk powder | 246,095 | 252,604 | 219,832 | 249,540 | 242,296 | 217,560 | -10.2% | -10.1% |
non-skimmed | 54,831 | 70,395 | 40,408 | 26,979 | 40,684 | 32,388 | -20.4% | -30.6% |
skimmed | 163,644 | 156,342 | 156,000 | 198,190 | 182,838 | 173,400 | -5.2% | +1.2% |
other | 27,620 | 25,867 | 23,425 | 24,370 | 18,775 | 11,772 | -37.3% | -51.0% |
Condensed milk and whey | 47,467 | 65,570 | 77,660 | 57,641 | 57,273 | 65,689 | +14.7% | +7.5% |
Source (mandatory acknowledgement): Directorate-General Statistics - Statistics Belgium |
International exchange of milk as a raw material
Dairy farms receive milk, cream and skimmed milk as raw materials for their production, either directly from dairy farmers or from fellow dairies. This dairy landscape extends beyond Belgium.
For their production, dairy farms managed to maintain their milk supplies directly from farmers at the same level as in 2023. In 2024, 4.5 billion litres of milk were supplied for processing from Belgium and abroad.
In addition, milk, cream and skimmed milk were also imported into Belgium from dairy farms in neighbouring countries. As much as 481 million litres of milk, 147 million litres of cream and 32 million litres of skimmed milk were imported.
On the other hand, dairy farms also exported 560 million litres of milk, 50 million litres of cream and 3 million litres of skimmed milk to dairy farms in neighbouring countries.
Collection and export of milk and cream in Belgian dairies (in 1000 litres) (2019-2024)
Cows’ milk collected from farms (Belgium + import) | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Difference 2024/2023 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Milk | 4,165,339 | 4,302,805 | 4,253,243 | 4,381,918 | 4,525,364 | 4,488,994 | -0.8% | |
Cream | 1,576 | 1,447 | 320 | 298 | 201 | 9 | -95.6% | |
Skimmed milk | 16,432 | 16,408 | 15,115 | 12,715 | 12,754 | 11,762 | -7.8% | |
Purchase from a company outside Belgium | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Difference 2024/2023 | |
Milk | 582,072 | 585,992 | 563,616 | 469,087 | 509,426 | 481,412 | -5.5% | |
Cream | 157,407 | 138,723 | 141,934 | 129,204 | 145,561 | 147,235 | +1.2% | |
Skimmed milk | 53,662 | 59,718 | 63,733 | 53,285 | 31,335 | 32,112 | +2.5% | |
Export | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Difference 2024/2023 | |
Milk | 410,819 | 338,258 | 480,529 | 566,218 | 524,748 | 560,093 | +6.7% | |
Cream | 90,494 | 91,103 | 82,124 | 67,067 | 80,668 | 49,637 | -38.5% | |
Skimmed milk | 102,667 | 124,132 | 95,109 | 639 | 1,551 | 2,569 | +65.6% | |
Source (mandatory acknowledgement): Directorate-General Statistics - Statistics Belgium |
Please note: due to the reform of milk and milk products statistics in 2013, the figures are not comparable with previous years.
Purpose and brief description
Dairy statistics show the quantity of milk and cream collected from dairy farms and the products thereof (cow’s milk on a monthly basis, other than cow’s milk on an annual basis).
Population
All dairy processing plants in Belgium
Periodicity
Annually; Monthly.
Release calendar
Results available 6 months after the reference period
Definitions
Collection of milk and cream: Quantity: Quantity of milk and cream collected in litres
Collection of milk and cream: Fat: Fat content of the milk and cream collected in kg
Production: Quantity: Quantity of dairy products in litres or kg
Production: Stocks at the end of the year: Quantity of dairy products in stock at the end of the year in litres or kg