The overall value of cheese exports increased by an average 30.2% for all exporting countries from five years earlier in 2019 when total cheese shipments were valued at $32.6 billion.
From 2022 to 2023, the value of globally exported cheese gained 5.2% starting from $40.3 billion.
Shipments from the world’s 5 biggest cheese exporters by value (Germany, Netherlands, Italy, France and the United States of America) generated well over half (56.4%) of the worldwide value of cheese exported in 2023.
Among continents, exporters in European countries sold the highest dollar value worth of cheese on international markets with shipments amounting to $35.6 billion or 83.8% of globally exported cheese. Cheese exports, mostly from New Zealand and Australia, in the Oceania continent took a 5.8% share, ahead of North American exporters at another 5.5% worth.
Smaller percentages came from suppliers in Asia (2.4%), Latin America (1.9%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Africa (0.6%).
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 2023.
- Germany: US$6.5 billion (15.3% of total cheese exports)
- Netherlands: $5.7 billion (13.4%)
- Italy: $5.4 billion (12.6%)
- France: $4.2 billion (9.8%)
- United States: $2.2 billion (5.2%)
- Denmark: $2.1 billion (5%)
- New Zealand: $1.8 billion (4.2%)
- Belgium: $1.6 billion (3.8%)
- Ireland: $1.4 billion (3.4%)
- Poland: $1.2 billion (2.9%)
- United Kingdom: $1.02 billion (2.4%)
- Greece: $1 billion (2.4%)
- Austria: $920.4 million (2.2%)
- Spain: $818.1 million (1.9%)
- Switzerland: $760.5 million (1.8%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 86.4% of cheese exported globally in 2023.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing cheese exporters since 2022 were: Greece (up 24.4%), Italy (up 14.6%), Belgium (up 14.5%) and Spain (up 12.6%).
The United States of America posted a decline in its exported cheese sales, down by -4.3% from 2022.
Searchable List of Cheese Exporting Countries in 2023
The 100 major exporters of cheese in the database below represent 99.997% of the value of cheese sold on international markets during 2023.
| Rank | Exporter | Cheese Exports | 2022-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Germany | $6,497,957,000 | +4.3% |
| 2. | Netherlands | $5,675,368,000 | +4.9% |
| 3. | Italy | $5,351,699,000 | +14.6% |
| 4. | France | $4,173,932,000 | +10.5% |
| 5. | United States | $2,195,620,000 | -4.3% |
| 6. | Denmark | $2,138,741,000 | +8.3% |
| 7. | New Zealand | $1,789,305,000 | +6% |
| 8. | Belgium | $1,627,143,000 | +14.5% |
| 9. | Ireland | $1,430,370,000 | +5.2% |
| 10. | Poland | $1,249,976,000 | +3.1% |
| 11. | United Kingdom | $1,017,013,000 | +10.3% |
| 12. | Greece | $1,001,533,000 | +24.4% |
| 13. | Austria | $920,360,000 | +9.8% |
| 14. | Spain | $818,051,000 | +12.6% |
| 15. | Switzerland | $760,494,000 | +2.8% |
| 16. | Australia | $684,784,000 | -9.7% |
| 17. | Czech Republic | $458,572,000 | +23.4% |
| 18. | Bahrain | $439,452,000 | +4.7% |
| 19. | Luxembourg | $381,817,000 | +8.6% |
| 20. | Cyprus | $345,469,000 | +13.6% |
| 21. | Argentina | $295,065,000 | +10.9% |
| 22. | Lithuania | $272,854,000 | -8% |
| 23. | Nicaragua | $231,535,000 | +30.2% |
| 24. | Hungary | $229,862,000 | -13.1% |
| 25. | Türkiye | $221,182,000 | +9% |
| 26. | Slovakia | $211,290,000 | +0.4% |
| 27. | Egypt | $167,893,000 | -7% |
| 28. | Bulgaria | $131,457,000 | +12% |
| 29. | Estonia | $129,445,000 | +1.3% |
| 30. | Sweden | $126,574,000 | +15.6% |
| 31. | Uruguay | $114,022,000 | +2.5% |
| 32. | Romania | $106,744,000 | +13.1% |
| 33. | Russia | $85,124,000 | -19.4% |
| 34. | Canada | $81,077,000 | +21.4% |
| 35. | Portugal | $79,724,000 | +13.6% |
| 36. | Saudi Arabia | $75,260,000 | -77.7% |
| 37. | Belarus | $60,844,000 | +0.8% |
| 38. | South Africa | $58,274,000 | +7.5% |
| 39. | Serbia | $54,569,000 | -4.6% |
| 40. | India | $53,178,000 | +17.7% |
| 41. | Finland | $49,876,000 | -5.1% |
| 42. | Mexico | $49,105,000 | +24.9% |
| 43. | Slovenia | $45,531,000 | -1.8% |
| 44. | Croatia | $45,491,000 | +11.1% |
| 45. | Ukraine | $39,934,000 | -5.4% |
| 46. | Jordan | $34,414,000 | +2.9% |
| 47. | Chile | $34,259,000 | -7% |
| 48. | El Salvador | $33,114,000 | -19.6% |
| 49. | Singapore | $24,367,000 | +4% |
| 50. | Brazil | $20,587,000 | -18.4% |
| 51. | Honduras | $17,034,000 | 0% |
| 52. | Vietnam | $16,146,000 | +71.4% |
| 53. | United Arab Emirates | $15,873,000 | -83.3% |
| 54. | Japan | $14,480,000 | +1.4% |
| 55. | Costa Rica | $13,093,000 | +29.4% |
| 56. | Malaysia | $12,838,000 | -7.7% |
| 57. | Tunisia | $12,508,000 | +50.6% |
| 58. | Morocco | $11,124,000 | -25.5% |
| 59. | Armenia | $11,032,000 | -13.2% |
| 60. | Indonesia | $10,665,000 | -4.3% |
| 61. | Iran | $9,770,000 | -91.7% |
| 62. | Jamaica | $9,677,000 | +9% |
| 63. | Djibouti | $9,045,000 | +7375% |
| 64. | Israel | $8,881,000 | +20.9% |
| 65. | South Korea | $8,800,000 | -9.5% |
| 66. | Hong Kong | $8,673,000 | +7.2% |
| 67. | Kazakhstan | $8,653,000 | -16% |
| 68. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $8,617,000 | +39.5% |
| 69. | Colombia | $8,039,000 | -13.1% |
| 70. | Iceland | $7,782,000 | +12.2% |
| 71. | Moldova | $6,729,000 | +23.9% |
| 72. | Thailand | $6,714,000 | +12.7% |
| 73. | Kyrgyzstan | $4,643,000 | -66% |
| 74. | North Macedonia | $4,270,000 | +14.1% |
| 75. | Azerbaijan | $4,202,000 | +14% |
| 76. | Norway | $3,614,000 | -89.2% |
| 77. | Philippines | $3,358,000 | -23.4% |
| 78. | Peru | $3,180,000 | +31% |
| 79. | mainland China | $2,671,000 | +132.5% |
| 80. | Dominican Republic | $2,413,000 | -4.7% |
| 81. | Guatemala | $1,833,000 | +98.4% |
| 82. | Albania | $1,430,000 | 0% |
| 83. | Paraguay | $1,124,000 | +23.9% |
| 84. | Kenya | $709,000 | +27.1% |
| 85. | Georgia | $686,000 | +11% |
| 86. | Trinidad/Tobago | $599,000 | +43.3% |
| 87. | Syria | $582,000 | -95.4% |
| 88. | Ecuador | $457,000 | +16% |
| 89. | Iraq | $421,000 | +926.8% |
| 90. | Taiwan | $409,000 | -78% |
| 91. | Nepal | $372,000 | -52.6% |
| 92. | Zimbabwe | $332,000 | -6.2% |
| 93. | Uganda | $311,000 | -14.8% |
| 94. | Lebanon | $305,000 | -76.4% |
| 95. | Malta | $291,000 | -81.7% |
| 96. | Mauritius | $282,000 | +3033% |
| 97. | Oman | $282,000 | -97.9% |
| 98. | Venezuela | $256,000 | -63.3% |
| 99. | Bhutan | $231,000 | -9.1% |
| 100. | Senegal | $192,000 | +27.2% |
Among the above top international suppliers, the fastest gainers were Djibouti (up 7,375% from 2022), Mauritius (up 3,033%), Iraq (up 926.8%), mainland China (up 132.5%), Guatemala (up 98.4%) then Vietnam (up 71.4%).
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 2022 data was available.
Countries Earning Largest Trade Surpluses from Cheese
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for cheese 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 cheese exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Netherlands: US$3.6 billion (net export surplus up 1.2% since 2022)
- Italy: $2.5 billion (up 22.2%)
- New Zealand: $1.7 billion (up 5.3%)
- Denmark: $1.6 billion (up 8.4%)
- France: $1.2 billion (up 7.5%)
- Ireland: $1.1 billion (up 6.5%)
- Germany: $858.4 million (down -0.7%)
- Poland: $596.2 million (down -7.6%)
- United States: $371 million (down -43.2%)
- Bahrain: $340.3 million (up 5.1%)
- Greece: $296 million (up 249.8%)
- Argentina: $278.3 million (up 14.8%)
- Cyprus: $258.7 million (up 13.3%)
- Nicaragua: $216 million (up 31%)
- Switzerland: $166.5 million (down -22.1%)
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 geographic 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 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 cheese import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United Kingdom: -US$1.45 billion (net export surplus up 9.2% since 2022)
- Japan: -$1.39 billion (up 2.1%)
- Spain: -$1.1 billion (up 5.8%)
- mainland China: -$965.1 million (up 25.6%)
- South Korea: -$853.8 million (up 9%)
- Mexico: -$837.9 million (up 18.2%)
- Sweden: -$684.7 million (down -0.3%)
- Belgium: -$629.1 million (up 11.2%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$575.6 million (down -4.9%)
- Romania: -$441.9 million (up 5.4%)
- Canada: -$393.8 million (up 7%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$328.6 million (down -7.7%)
- Finland: -$326.4 million (up 9%)
- Portugal: -$314.8 million (up 10.6%)
- Chile: -$277.7 million (up 18.3%)
The United Kingdom and Japan recorded 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)
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 September 2, 2024
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on September 2, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 2, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 2, 2024
Wikipedia, Cheese. Accessed on September 2, 2024