Milk and milk product statistics

Belgian dairies produced 25% more cheese in 2024

Agriculture & fishery
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

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

Metadata