Global cheese market - statistics & facts

Cheese market outlook

The global market value for processed, as well as, organic cheese is forecast to grow steadily over the course of the next few years. In 2020, the market value of processed cheese amounted to just over 16 billion U.S. dollars and is expected to grow by almost eight billion by 2029. The global market value of organic cheese is projected to double between 2019 and 2026.

Global cheese production

In terms of production volume, cow milk was without question the leading dairy product in the world. Compared to cheese, which accounted for about 22 million metric tons, over 544 million metric tons of cow milk were produced globally last year. Cheese production has been increasing slightly with each consecutive year since 2015. About half of all the cheese made in 2021 was produced by the European Union. The leading country within the EU-27 was Germany, which produced over 2.25 million metric tons of cheese. Outside of the EU-27, United States was the leading cheese-producing country in 2021.

International trade

Many of the world’s top cheese exporting and importing countries were also European: Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and France were the leading exporters by a significant margin in 2020. By far the leading importer of processed cheese that year was the United Kingdom, which imported over 280 million U.S. dollars’ worth of the cheese type. France stood in second place that year, importing less than half that amount.

This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.