Year over year, the value of globally exported milk reduced by-16.7% compared to $38.5 billion for 2022.
The 5 biggest suppliers of milk on global markets ranked by dollar value are New Zealand, Germany, Netherlands, United States of America and Belgium. Combined, those major milk suppliers accounted for over half (56.3%) of international milk sales in 2023.
From a continental perspective, suppliers in Europe sold almost three-fifths (57.2%) of worldwide milk exports. Led by New Zealand, countries in the continent of Oceania placed second at 24.8%. Shippers in North America were responsible for another 8.8% of global milk exports ahead of Asia’s milk exporters at 5%.
Suppliers in Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean scored a 4.5% share, trailed by international milk providers in Africa at 1%.
There are two major product classifications used for the international trade of milk. The 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code prefix is 0401 for milk and cream that is not concentrated nor contain added sugar or other sweetening matter. For milk and cream that does contain concentrated or containing added sugar or other sweetening matter, the 4-digit code is 0402.
Unsweetened milk exports under HTS prefix 0401 amounted to $11.1 billion (34.5% of the global total) while sweetened milk items under code 0402 equaled $21 billion (65.5%).
Overall Milk Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of milk during 2023, encompassing both unsweetened and unsweetened varieties of product.
- New Zealand: US$6.8 billion (21.2% of total milk exports)
- Germany: $3.5 billion (10.8%)
- Netherlands: $2.9 billion (8.9%)
- United States: $2.6 billion (8.1%)
- Belgium: $2.31 billion (7.2%)
- France: $2.03 billion (6.3%)
- Australia: $1.14 billion (3.5%)
- Poland: $1.08 billion (3.4%)
- Ireland: $1.07 billion (3.3%)
- United Kingdom: $838.2 million (2.6%)
- Czech Republic: $662.4 million (2.1%)
- Uruguay: $608.1 million (1.9%)
- Spain: $494 million (1.5%)
- Austria: $484.1 million (1.5%)
- Argentina: $406.4 million (1.3%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped over four-fifths (83.7%) of worldwide milk exported in 2023.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing exporters of milk since 2019 were: Ireland (up 52.2%), Czech Republic (up 44.3%), United States (up 35.5%) and Uruguay (up 32.2%).
Those countries that recorded the most modest gains in their exported milk sales were suppliers in the United Kingdom (up 4.6% from 2022) and New Zealand (up 8.9%).
Countries Earning Highest Surpluses Trading Milk
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for milk during 2023. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s exported milk and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- New Zealand: US$6.8 billion (net export surplus up 9.4% since 2019)
- United States of America: $2.4 billion (up 33.1%)
- Netherlands: $1.24 billion (up 10.7%)
- Germany: $1.17 billion (down -6.7%)
- France: $1.04 billion (up 31.2%)
- Australia: $866.2 million (up 26.2%)
- Ireland: $649.7 million (up 100.5%)
- Uruguay: $601.3 million (up 31.6%)
- Belgium: $583 million (up 35.9%)
- Czech Republic: $554.4 million (up 39.3%)
- Poland: $465.3 million (up 10.5%)
- Argentina: $400.7 million (up 26.2%)
- United Kingdom: $343.9 million (down -13.4%)
- Austria: $268.2 million (up 7.2%)
- Denmark: $196.5 million (down -35.9%)
World-leader New Zealand recorded the highest surplus in the international trade of milk. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms New Zealand’s strong competitive advantage for this dairy product category.
Countries Incurring Worst Deficits Trading Milk
The following countries posted the severest negative net exports for milk during 2023. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s imported milk purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- China: -US$2.9 billion (net export deficit down -31.6% since 2019)
- Algeria: -$1.3 billion (up 36.7%)
- Mexico: -$1 billion (up 25.5%)
- Indonesia: -$898.3 million (up 45.5%)
- Brazil: -$691.6 million (up 226%)
- Philippines: -$657.2 million (up 13.1%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$597.5 million (up 113.9%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$537.6 million (up 377.8%)
- Vietnam: -$493.2 million (up 39.6%)
- Italy: -$471.1 million (down -54.5%)
- Malaysia: -$438.4 million (up 41.1%)
- Taiwan: -$388.8 million (up 23.7%)
- Hong Kong: -$365.9 million (down -46.3%)
- Bangladesh: -$363.4 million (down -0.6%)
- Greece: -$351.8 million (up 47.4%)
Mainland China incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of milk. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights strong Chinese competitive disadvantages for this specific product category. This statistical trend also signals opportunities for milk-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful consumer demand from the highly populous People’s Republic of China.
Searchable List of Milk Exporting Countries
The 100 key exporters of milk available in the following automated database generated 99.99% of total milk sales on international markets during 2023.
| Rank | Supplier | Milk Exports | 2019-23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | New Zealand | $6,807,460,000 | +8.9% |
| 2. | Germany | $3,468,299,000 | +18.8% |
| 3. | Netherlands | $2,861,184,000 | +21.5% |
| 4. | United States | $2,614,281,000 | +35.5% |
| 5. | Belgium | $2,309,938,000 | +29.6% |
| 6. | France | $2,031,161,000 | +22.8% |
| 7. | Australia | $1,137,758,000 | +27.6% |
| 8. | Poland | $1,075,866,000 | +30.5% |
| 9. | Ireland | $1,066,338,000 | +52.2% |
| 10. | United Kingdom | $838,180,000 | +4.6% |
| 11. | Czech Republic | $662,427,000 | +44.3% |
| 12. | Uruguay | $608,099,000 | +32.2% |
| 13. | Spain | $493,996,000 | +14.3% |
| 14. | Austria | $484,095,000 | +23.3% |
| 15. | Argentina | $406,388,000 | +24.6% |
| 16. | Denmark | $393,164,000 | -15.2% |
| 17. | Hong Kong | $329,302,000 | -66.4% |
| 18. | Lithuania | $314,027,000 | +7.1% |
| 19. | Sweden | $301,283,000 | +65.5% |
| 20. | Hungary | $255,635,000 | +66.5% |
| 21. | Luxembourg | $245,278,000 | +49% |
| 22. | Malaysia | $208,808,000 | -19.9% |
| 23. | Italy | $201,542,000 | +49.3% |
| 24. | Portugal | $191,330,000 | +35% |
| 25. | Belarus | $180,062,000 | -71.4% |
| 26. | Slovenia | $176,370,000 | +34.8% |
| 27. | Finland | $158,835,000 | +26.9% |
| 28. | Thailand | $153,987,000 | +30.3% |
| 29. | Singapore | $152,205,000 | +3.6% |
| 30. | Estonia | $140,717,000 | +52.1% |
| 31. | South Africa | $130,972,000 | +16.4% |
| 32. | Slovakia | $122,462,000 | +36.3% |
| 33. | Mexico | $107,871,000 | +40.7% |
| 34. | Canada | $87,813,000 | -24.7% |
| 35. | Chile | $86,663,000 | +60.3% |
| 36. | Ukraine | $85,242,000 | -6.9% |
| 37. | mainland China | $80,567,000 | +144.1% |
| 38. | Costa Rica | $71,901,000 | -24.2% |
| 39. | Russia | $68,971,000 | +42.6% |
| 40. | Uganda | $65,194,000 | +6.7% |
| 41. | Paraguay | $54,183,000 | +153.8% |
| 42. | Romania | $53,896,000 | +11.7% |
| 43. | Brazil | $46,915,000 | +42.4% |
| 44. | Peru | $45,613,000 | -48.6% |
| 45. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $42,806,000 | +18.2% |
| 46. | Türkiye | $42,141,000 | -63.5% |
| 47. | Egypt | $41,079,000 | -13.6% |
| 48. | Switzerland | $38,469,000 | -12.1% |
| 49. | South Korea | $37,934,000 | +25.5% |
| 50. | United Arab Emirates | $36,777,000 | -95.4% |
| 51. | Japan | $35,878,000 | +137.3% |
| 52. | Bolivia | $35,045,000 | +115.3% |
| 53. | Nicaragua | $32,432,000 | -17% |
| 54. | Iran | $30,622,000 | -82% |
| 55. | India | $28,852,000 | -27.5% |
| 56. | Croatia | $27,559,000 | +76.2% |
| 57. | Indonesia | $23,150,000 | -14.2% |
| 58. | Togo | $21,304,000 | -4.5% |
| 59. | Greece | $19,070,000 | -11.4% |
| 60. | Serbia | $17,944,000 | -38.2% |
| 61. | Honduras | $16,867,000 | 0% |
| 62. | Vietnam | $16,336,000 | -78.6% |
| 63. | Bulgaria | $12,548,000 | -7.6% |
| 64. | Philippines | $12,416,000 | -63.5% |
| 65. | Pakistan | $11,405,000 | 0% |
| 66. | Colombia | $10,886,000 | +421.9% |
| 67. | Kazakhstan | $10,608,000 | -42.8% |
| 68. | Kyrgyzstan | $9,796,000 | 0% |
| 69. | Zambia | $9,645,000 | +431.1% |
| 70. | Oman | $9,181,000 | -95.9% |
| 71. | Ivory Coast | $7,311,000 | +103.6% |
| 72. | Ghana | $6,648,000 | -36% |
| 73. | Guatemala | $6,078,000 | 0% |
| 74. | Panama | $5,817,000 | 0% |
| 75. | Morocco | $5,570,000 | +71% |
| 76. | Azerbaijan | $5,460,000 | +510.7% |
| 77. | Norway | $5,412,000 | -50.8% |
| 78. | Sri Lanka | $4,672,000 | 0% |
| 79. | Kenya | $4,636,000 | +884.3% |
| 80. | Nigeria | $3,298,000 | 0% |
| 81. | Cyprus | $3,070,000 | +3.8% |
| 82. | El Salvador | $3,065,000 | 0% |
| 83. | Angola | $2,470,000 | +127% |
| 84. | Saudi Arabia | $2,428,000 | -99.5% |
| 85. | North Macedonia | $2,036,000 | -66.2% |
| 86. | Trinidad/Tobago | $1,971,000 | -32.4% |
| 87. | Dominican Republic | $1,811,000 | -72.3% |
| 88. | Bahrain | $1,741,000 | -84.9% |
| 89. | Curaçao | $1,732,000 | +361.9% |
| 90. | Zimbabwe | $1,353,000 | +31.7% |
| 91. | Bangladesh | $1,311,000 | +2.3% |
| 92. | Namibia | $1,284,000 | -17.3% |
| 93. | Kuwait | $1,262,000 | -84.7% |
| 94. | Algeria | $1,149,000 | -72.7% |
| 95. | Iceland | $904,000 | +14.3% |
| 96. | Mauritius | $776,000 | -23.7% |
| 97. | Malta | $719,000 | +1283% |
| 98. | Taiwan | $591,000 | -66.8% |
| 99. | Jordan | $558,000 | -2.8% |
| 100. | Senegal | $548,000 | -84.2% |
Focusing on the top 100 milk exporters, the fastest-growing suppliers were those in Malta (up 1,282% from 2019), Kenya (up 884.3%), Azerbaijan (up 510.7%), Zambia (up 431.1%) and Colombia (up 421.9%).
Leading decliners over the 5-year period since 2019 were milk exporters in Saudi Arabia (down -99.5% from 2019), Oman (down -95.9%), United Arab Emirates (down -95.4%), Bahrain (down -84.9%), Kuwait (down -84.7%), Senegal (down -84.2%) then Iran (down -82%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the columns. The right-most column shows the percentage increase in the value of exported milk from 2019 to 2023.
An entry of 0% in that column means 2019 data was unavailable.
Milk Exporting Companies
Below are global milk-processing companies that represent established players engaged in the international milk trade. Many of these business entities are cooperatives. The home country for each company is shown within parenthesis.
- Almarai (Saudi Arabia)
- Arla Foods (Denmark)
- Borden Milk Products (United States)
- Canberra Milk (Australia)
- First Milk (United Kingdom)
- Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited (New Zealand)
- FrieslandCampina (Netherlands)
- La Serenísima (Argentina)
- Lactalis (France)
- Zott (Germany)
See also Top Milk Imports by Country, New Zealand’s Top 10 Exports, New Zealand’s Top Trading Partners, Germany’s Top Trading Partners and Wine Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on July 22, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on July 22, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on July 22, 2024
Wikipedia, Category:Dairy products companies by country. Accessed on July 22, 2024
Wikipedia, Dairy. Accessed on July 22, 2024
