The overall value of cheese exports increased by an average 20.2% for all exporting countries since 2017 when total cheese shipments were valued at $30.7 billion.
From 2020 to 2021, the value of globally exported cheese gained 10.8% from $33.3 billion.
Shipments from the world’s 5 biggest cheese exporters by value (Germany, Netherlands, Italy, France and the United States of America) account for 53.8% of the worldwide value of cheese exported in 2021.
Among continents, European countries sold the highest dollar value worth of exported cheese with shipments amounting to $30.8 billion or 83.5% of globally exported cheese. Cheese exports, mostly from New Zealand and Australia, in the Oceania continent took a 6.1% share, ahead of North American exporters at 5.2%. worth
Smaller percentages came from Asia (2.6%), Latin America (1.8%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, and Africa (0.7%).
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for cheese and curd is 0406.
Cheese Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of cheese during 2021.
- Germany: US$5.4 billion (14.7% of total cheese exports)
- Netherlands: $4.6 billion (12.4%)
- Italy: $4.2 billion (11.5%)
- France: $3.8 billion (10.3%)
- United States: $1.81 billion (4.9%)
- Denmark: $1.75 billion (4.8%)
- New Zealand: $1.5 billion (4%)
- Belgium: $1.3 billion (3.5%)
- Ireland: $1.24 billion (3.4%)
- Belarus: $1.19 billion (3.2%)
- Poland: $1.1 billion (3%)
- Austria: $811 million (2.2%)
- Switzerland: $796 million (2.2%)
- Australia: $781.4 million (2.1%)
- United Kingdom: $777.5 million (2.1%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 84.2% of global cheese exported in 2021.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing cheese exporters since 2020 were: Belgium (up 19.4%), Poland (up 18.7%), Australia (up 17.5%) and Italy (up 16.3%).
Ireland was the lone top cheese exported that posted a decline in its international cheese sales thanks to its -7.7% reduction.
Countries Earning Largest Trade Surpluses from Cheese
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for cheese during 2021. 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 cheese exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Netherlands: US$3.1 billion (net export surplus up 8.7% since 2020)
- Italy: $2.1 billion (up 21.3%)
- France: $1.4 billion (down -0.4%)
- New Zealand: $1.4 billion (up 12.2%)
- Denmark: $1.3 billion (up 8.5%)
- Belarus: $1.2 billion (up 11.5%)
- Ireland: $978.8 million (up 13.1%)
- Poland: $593 million (up 18.4%)
- Germany: $294.4 million (up 433.3%)
- United States: $274.7 million (down -26.9%)
- Switzerland: $262.2 million (up 16.1%)
- Cyprus: $249.6 million (up 0.1%)
- Argentina: $248.5 million (up 21.8%)
- Australia: $244.7 million (up 54.7%)
- Lithuania: $168.6 million (up 9.8%)
The Netherlands generated the greatest surplus in the international trade of cheese. In turn, this positive albeit slowing cashflow confirms Netherlands’ strong competitive advantage for this specific product category in part due to its strategic location for distributing cheese products to fellow European markets.
Countries Facing Worst Trade Deficits from Cheese
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for cheese during 2021. 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 cheese import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Japan: -US$1.3 billion (net export surplus up 0.2% since 2020)
- United Kingdom: -$1.24 billion (down -9.2%)
- Russia: -$1.18 billion (up 4.3%)
- China: -$811.6 million (up 37.9%)
- South Korea: -$675.9 million (up 8.5%)
- Spain: -$671.3 million (up 11.9%)
- Belgium: -$655.7 million (up 13.8%)
- Sweden: -$645.9 million (up 4.9%)
- Mexico: -$516.8 million (up 4%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$422.3 million (up 21.8%)
- Romania: -$369.2 million (up 22.1%)
- Canada: -$342.1 million (up 22.3%)
- Chile: -$265.6 million (up 56.4%)
- Finland: -$262.7 million (up 9.3%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$261.5 million (down -4.8%)
Japan, the United Kingdom and Russia incurred the highest deficits in the international trade of cheese. In turn, these negative cashflows highlight those countries’ competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for cheese-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand from consumers and businesses.
Cheese Exporting Companies
Below are the top dairy companies that dominate the worldwide trade in cheese and other dairy products. This ranked list was compiled by market information researchers from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)-AID. Shown within brackets is where headquarters is located for the cheese exporting companies.
- Nestle (Switzerland)
- Danone (France)
- Lactalis including Parmalat (France)
- Fonterra (New Zealand)
- FrieslandCampina (Netherlands)
- Dairy Farmers of America (United States)
- Arla Foods (Denmark)
- Saputo (Canada)
- Dean Foods (United State)
- Yili Group (China)
- Unilever (Netherlands/United Kingdom)
- Meiji Dairies (Japan)
- DMK Deutsches Milchkontor GmbH (Germany)
- Mengniu Dairy (China)
Searchable List of Cheese Exporting Countries in 2021
The 100 major exporters of cheese in the database below represent 99.997% of the value of cheese sold on international markets during 2021.
| Rank | Exporter | Cheese Exports (US$) | 2020-1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Germany | $5,402,684,000 | +12.4% |
| 2. | Netherlands | $4,581,714,000 | +8.6% |
| 3. | Italy | $4,236,310,000 | +16.3% |
| 4. | France | $3,802,676,000 | +8.3% |
| 5. | United States | $1,811,954,000 | +12.7% |
| 6. | Denmark | $1,752,857,000 | +9.5% |
| 7. | New Zealand | $1,482,882,000 | +12.4% |
| 8. | Belgium | $1,278,740,000 | +19.4% |
| 9. | Ireland | $1,238,414,000 | +4.9% |
| 10. | Belarus | $1,190,197,000 | +11.8% |
| 11. | Poland | $1,095,960,000 | +18.7% |
| 12. | Austria | $810,973,000 | +11.5% |
| 13. | Switzerland | $795,968,000 | +12.4% |
| 14. | Australia | $781,385,000 | +17.5% |
| 15. | United Kingdom | $777,454,000 | -7.7% |
| 16. | Greece | $714,412,000 | +18.5% |
| 17. | Spain | $664,143,000 | +14.2% |
| 18. | Cyprus | $313,419,000 | +2.1% |
| 19. | Czech Republic | $311,083,000 | +20.7% |
| 20. | Saudi Arabia | $306,471,000 | -8.9% |
| 21. | Luxembourg | $262,489,000 | +27.3% |
| 22. | Argentina | $262,270,000 | +25.4% |
| 23. | Lithuania | $253,298,000 | +13.4% |
| 24. | Hungary | $187,901,000 | +9.5% |
| 25. | Egypt | $186,994,000 | -6.4% |
| 26. | Slovakia | $175,693,000 | +8.4% |
| 27. | Nicaragua | $167,261,000 | +14% |
| 28. | Turkey | $152,058,000 | -18.2% |
| 29. | Bahrain | $145,241,000 | +5.5% |
| 30. | Russia | $125,538,000 | +30.8% |
| 31. | Latvia | $121,863,000 | +13.2% |
| 32. | Bulgaria | $118,112,000 | +14.3% |
| 33. | Iran | $114,951,000 | -3.9% |
| 34. | Uruguay | $105,479,000 | -2.2% |
| 35. | Estonia | $96,154,000 | +7.9% |
| 36. | Sweden | $92,299,000 | +27.6% |
| 37. | Romania | $79,926,000 | +26.3% |
| 38. | Canada | $59,790,000 | -2.9% |
| 39. | Finland | $57,029,000 | -11.6% |
| 40. | Serbia | $55,751,000 | +8.4% |
| 41. | South Africa | $49,634,000 | +30.8% |
| 42. | Portugal | $49,481,000 | +26.6% |
| 43. | Slovenia | $40,746,000 | +12.2% |
| 44. | Croatia | $38,377,000 | +13.4% |
| 45. | India | $35,983,000 | -8.7% |
| 46. | El Salvador | $35,948,000 | +8.6% |
| 47. | Chile | $33,416,000 | -0.6% |
| 48. | Norway | $30,360,000 | -36.4% |
| 49. | Mexico | $29,707,000 | -18.6% |
| 50. | Ukraine | $26,040,000 | +7.1% |
| 51. | Brazil | $23,184,000 | +22.8% |
| 52. | Hong Kong | $23,079,000 | +144.4% |
| 53. | Singapore | $22,048,000 | +22.2% |
| 54. | Morocco | $20,471,000 | -28.9% |
| 55. | Japan | $18,428,000 | +34.6% |
| 56. | Jordan | $18,288,000 | -34.2% |
| 57. | Armenia | $15,226,000 | +33.6% |
| 58. | Honduras | $14,553,000 | +3.3% |
| 59. | United Arab Emirates | $14,414,000 | -72.6% |
| 60. | Tunisia | $12,525,000 | -10.2% |
| 61. | Kazakhstan | $11,811,000 | +11.1% |
| 62. | Costa Rica | $9,654,000 | -16.3% |
| 63. | South Korea | $9,491,000 | +59.7% |
| 64. | Kyrgyzstan | $8,504,000 | -13.3% |
| 65. | Malaysia | $8,198,000 | +8.5% |
| 66. | Israel | $8,112,000 | +9.1% |
| 67. | Indonesia | $7,844,000 | +9.2% |
| 68. | Jamaica | $7,811,000 | +8.8% |
| 69. | Colombia | $7,773,000 | +26.9% |
| 70. | Syria | $7,300,000 | -7.6% |
| 71. | Moldova | $7,048,000 | -2.7% |
| 72. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $6,488,000 | +38.4% |
| 73. | Azerbaijan | $6,347,000 | -44.7% |
| 74. | Iceland | $5,805,000 | +36.9% |
| 75. | Thailand | $4,863,000 | +17.6% |
| 76. | Philippines | $3,849,000 | +231.8% |
| 77. | Vietnam | $3,453,000 | -12.9% |
| 78. | Taiwan | $3,200,000 | +32.1% |
| 79. | Peru | $2,652,000 | +28.1% |
| 80. | Dominican Republic | $2,149,000 | -8% |
| 81. | Lebanon | $1,951,000 | -5.9% |
| 82. | China | $1,620,000 | -16.5% |
| 83. | Mauritius | $1,581,000 | +134.2% |
| 84. | North Macedonia | $1,523,000 | -24.5% |
| 85. | Malta | $1,247,000 | +22.3% |
| 86. | Albania | $896,000 | +531% |
| 87. | Paraguay | $795,000 | -4% |
| 88. | Panama | $790,000 | -80% |
| 89. | Brunei Darussalam | $603,000 | +528.1% |
| 90. | Georgia | $552,000 | +12.9% |
| 91. | Trinidad/Tobago | $493,000 | +6.9% |
| 92. | Kenya | $381,000 | -3.3% |
| 93. | Venezuela | $379,000 | +51% |
| 94. | Zimbabwe | $366,000 | -26.2% |
| 95. | Guatemala | $352,000 | -14.8% |
| 96. | Ecuador | $308,000 | +12% |
| 97. | Nepal | $292,000 | -26.6% |
| 98. | Kuwait | $183,000 | -91.8% |
| 99. | Fiji | $178,000 | +50.8% |
| 100. | Algeria | $158,000 | -60.2% |
Among the above top international suppliers, the fastest gainers were Albania (up 531% from 2020), Brunei Darussalam (up 528.1%), Philippines (up 231.8%), Hong Kong (up 144.4%), Mauritius (up 134.2%) and South Korea (up 59.7%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns in the above table. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that no 2020 data was available.
See also Cheese Imports by Country, Flour Exports by Country, Tomatoes Exports by Country and Wheat Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)-AID, market information centre, Top Global Dairy Companies, Processing Sector. Accessed on July 16, 2022
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on July 16, 2022
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on July 16, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on July 16, 2022
Wikipedia, Cheese. Accessed on July 16, 2022
