The overall value of cheese imports increased by 35.2% for all importing countries from five years earlier in 2020 when international purchases of cheese were valued at $33.4 billion.
Year over year, globally imported cheese recorded a 3.5% gain compared to $43.6 billion during 2023.
The 5 biggest cheese importers in 2024 form a cohort of European buyer countries namely Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom and Belgium. Collectively, that subgroup bought 37.7% of worldwide spending on imported cheese during 2024.
From a continental perspective, suppliers in European countries bought the highest dollar worth of imported cheese during 2024 with purchases costing $31.1 billion or 69% of the global total. In second place were importers located in Asia at 15.6% while another 8% of cheese imported worldwide was delivered to North America.
Smaller percentages were sold to customers in Latin America (4.1%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Africa (1.7%), then Oceania (1.6%) led by Australia and New Zealand.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for cheese and curd is 0406.
Cheese Imports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that imported the highest dollar value worth of cheese during 2024.
- Germany: US$6 billion (13.2% of total imported cheese)
- France: $3.2 billion (7%)
- Italy: $3 billion (6.7%)
- United Kingdom: $2.7 billion (5.9%)
- Belgium: $2.24 billion (5%)
- Netherlands: $2.23 billion (5%)
- Spain: $2.01 billion (4.5%)
- United States: $2 billion (4.4%)
- Japan: $1.3 billion (2.9%)
- Mexico: $1.1 billion (2.5%)
- Saudi Arabia: $1 billion (2.2%)
- mainland China: $895 million (2%)
- Sweden: $858.7 million (1.9%)
- Austria: $831.3 million (1.8%)
- Greece: $773.9 million (1.7%)
By value, the listed 15 countries purchased two-thirds (66.7%) of all cheese imported in 2024.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing markets for cheese since 2023 were: Mexico (up 27.6%), Netherlands (up 9.9%), Greece (up 9.7%) and United States (up 9.6%).
Those top buyer countries that posted declines in their imported cheese purchases were: Japan (down -8% from 2023), mainland China (down -7.5%) and Belgium (down -0.6%.
Searchable List of Cheese Importer Countries in 2024
The 100 key buyers of imported cheese featured in the automated database below purchased 98.9% of the overall value for cheese imports during 2024.
| Rank | Importer | Cheese Imports | 2023-4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Germany | $5,958,854,000 | +3.3% |
| 2. | France | $3,156,272,000 | +4.2% |
| 3. | Italy | $3,008,684,000 | +6.8% |
| 4. | United Kingdom | $2,651,305,000 | +7.5% |
| 5. | Belgium | $2,242,981,000 | -0.6% |
| 6. | Netherlands | $2,233,674,000 | +9.9% |
| 7. | Spain | $2,012,643,000 | +7.7% |
| 8. | United States | $1,999,859,000 | +9.6% |
| 9. | Japan | $1,293,790,000 | -8% |
| 10. | Mexico | $1,132,031,000 | +27.6% |
| 11. | Saudi Arabia | $1,012,434,000 | +3.9% |
| 12. | mainland China | $895,035,000 | -7.5% |
| 13. | Sweden | $858,668,000 | +5.8% |
| 14. | Austria | $831,327,000 | +9.3% |
| 15. | Greece | $773,852,000 | +9.7% |
| 16. | Poland | $754,630,000 | +15% |
| 17. | Czech Republic | $654,336,000 | +11% |
| 18. | South Korea | $650,215,000 | -24.6% |
| 19. | Romania | $620,723,000 | +13.1% |
| 20. | Switzerland | $616,537,000 | +3.8% |
| 21. | Australia | $579,372,000 | -7.8% |
| 22. | Denmark | $529,603,000 | -1% |
| 23. | Canada | $489,006,000 | +3% |
| 24. | Portugal | $441,191,000 | +11.8% |
| 25. | Luxembourg | $413,205,000 | -2.4% |
| 26. | Hungary | $410,117,000 | +18.9% |
| 27. | United Arab Emirates | $376,468,000 | -23.9% |
| 28. | Finland | $373,558,000 | -0.8% |
| 29. | Slovakia | $315,841,000 | +3.2% |
| 30. | Ireland | $311,579,000 | -2.7% |
| 31. | Brazil | $302,864,000 | +41.9% |
| 32. | Chile | $299,643,000 | -3.9% |
| 33. | Kuwait | $242,231,000 | -1.2% |
| 34. | Croatia | $237,324,000 | +15.7% |
| 35. | Ukraine | $227,084,000 | +13.1% |
| 36. | Iraq | $210,722,000 | -38% |
| 37. | El Salvador | $209,681,000 | -3% |
| 38. | Dominican Republic | $207,834,000 | +13.2% |
| 39. | Bulgaria | $203,057,000 | +17.2% |
| 40. | Philippines | $202,092,000 | -0.5% |
| 41. | Malaysia | $187,730,000 | +7.7% |
| 42. | Kazakhstan | $187,310,000 | +21.8% |
| 43. | Taiwan | $180,227,000 | -3.7% |
| 44. | Slovenia | $170,161,000 | +8% |
| 45. | Norway | $163,430,000 | +3.2% |
| 46. | Libya | $154,963,000 | -9.9% |
| 47. | Guatemala | $152,324,000 | +7.6% |
| 48. | Indonesia | $147,870,000 | +2.8% |
| 49. | Jordan | $145,219,000 | -11% |
| 50. | Algeria | $136,607,000 | +75.4% |
| 51. | Morocco | $133,213,000 | -18.7% |
| 52. | Thailand | $130,315,000 | +9.7% |
| 53. | Singapore | $124,288,000 | -0.1% |
| 54. | Lebanon | $124,131,000 | +10.6% |
| 55. | Lithuania | $123,605,000 | +3.6% |
| 56. | Latvia | $123,065,000 | +9.1% |
| 57. | Israel | $107,060,000 | +2.6% |
| 58. | Hong Kong | $99,534,000 | +1.1% |
| 59. | Panama | $91,561,000 | +6.9% |
| 60. | Cyprus | $91,206,000 | +5.1% |
| 61. | Bahrain | $91,157,000 | -8.1% |
| 62. | Egypt | $89,371,000 | -6.2% |
| 63. | Serbia | $84,066,000 | +27.5% |
| 64. | Vietnam | $81,870,000 | +0.6% |
| 65. | Qatar | $77,752,000 | -3.3% |
| 66. | Russia | $77,518,000 | -28% |
| 67. | Oman | $75,580,000 | -51.3% |
| 68. | Estonia | $74,882,000 | +10.9% |
| 69. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $74,599,000 | +16.8% |
| 70. | Yemen | $70,694,000 | -25.5% |
| 71. | New Zealand | $64,435,000 | -24.4% |
| 72. | Uzbekistan | $60,602,000 | +64.9% |
| 73. | Moldova | $59,882,000 | +26.9% |
| 74. | Peru | $57,999,000 | +19.3% |
| 75. | Malta | $56,830,000 | +9.9% |
| 76. | Costa Rica | $56,037,000 | +36.2% |
| 77. | Colombia | $54,390,000 | +23.1% |
| 78. | Türkiye | $52,126,000 | -16.6% |
| 79. | Trinidad/Tobago | $52,098,000 | +0.8% |
| 80. | Mauritius | $46,257,000 | +10.5% |
| 81. | Honduras | $45,888,000 | +11.1% |
| 82. | Cuba | $40,364,000 | +1.8% |
| 83. | Azerbaijan | $39,579,000 | +10.3% |
| 84. | North Macedonia | $39,190,000 | +19% |
| 85. | Jamaica | $33,651,000 | -7.7% |
| 86. | Montenegro | $32,807,000 | +9.7% |
| 87. | Georgia | $32,507,000 | +11.2% |
| 88. | South Africa | $31,231,000 | -22.3% |
| 89. | Albania | $31,147,000 | +28.7% |
| 90. | Bahamas | $25,701,000 | +5.1% |
| 91. | New Caledonia | $22,541,000 | -8.5% |
| 92. | Paraguay | $22,482,000 | +28.2% |
| 93. | Maldives | $21,728,000 | +20.1% |
| 94. | Venezuela | $18,232,000 | +43.3% |
| 95. | Barbados | $18,180,000 | +2.3% |
| 96. | Mongolia | $18,126,000 | +34.6% |
| 97. | Nicaragua | $18,095,000 | +16.6% |
| 98. | French Polynesia | $18,079,000 | -1% |
| 99. | Namibia | $16,912,000 | +6.2% |
| 100. | Palestine | $16,573,000 | -58.2% |
Focusing on the top 100 most valuable cheese importers, the fastest increases belong to buyers in Algeria (up 75.4% from 2023), Uzbekistan (up 64.9%), Venezuela (up 43.3%), Brazil (up 41.9%) then Costa Rica (up 36.2%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the above table’s columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that 2023 data was unavailable.
Cheese Imports into Germany
Germany’s global purchases of imported cheese totaled US$5.96 billion in 2024. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Germany imported the highest dollar value worth of cheese during 2024. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2023 to 2024.
- Netherlands: US$1.7 billion (up 4.8% from 2023)
- France: $919.3 million (down -3.4%)
- Italy: $829.4 million (up 5.3%)
- Austria: $566.6 million (up 6.2%)
- Denmark: $444.8 million (down -0.6%)
- Switzerland: $425.7 million (up 11.6%)
- Greece: $274.7 million (down -3.2%)
- Ireland: $146.4 million (down -10.2%)
- Poland: $136.6 million (up 17.3%)
- Belgium: $126.8 million (up 14.2%)
- Latvia: $66.4 million (down -17.5%)
- United Kingdom: $61.5 million (up 16.5%)
- Luxembourg: $58.7 million (down -0.1%)
- Slovakia: $42.9 million (up 45.2%)
- Spain: $34.7 million (down -11.9%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 98.2% of cheese imported by Germany in 2024.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of cheese to Germany since 2023 were: Slovakia (up 45.2%), Poland (up 17.3%), United Kingdom (up 16.5%) and Belgium (up 14.2%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their cheese supplied to German importers included: Latvia (down -17.5% from 2023), Spain (down -11.9%), Ireland (down -10.2%) and France (down -3.4%).
Overall, the value of Germany’s imported cheese dropped by an average -3.3% from all supplying countries since 2023 when cheese purchased cost $5.8 billion.
Cheese Imports into France
France’s global purchases of imported cheese totaled US$3.16 billion in 2024. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which France imported the highest dollar value worth of cheese during 2024. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2023 to 2024.
- Italy: US$1 billion (up 4.2% from 2023)
- Germany: $537 million (up 5.9%)
- Netherlands: $500.8 million (down -7.6%)
- Belgium: $227.3 million (up 41.2%)
- United Kingdom: $219.8 million (up 12.3%)
- Spain: $137.8 million (down -7.4%)
- Ireland: $121 million (up 12.8%)
- Greece: $94.5 million (up 10.3%)
- Switzerland: $67.3 million (down -0.9%)
- France: $65.5 million (up 13.8%)
- Denmark: $64.4 million (down -2%)
- Poland: $12.9 million (down -32.6%)
- Hungary: $8.74 million (down -17.8%)
- Austria: $7.6 million (down -6%)
- Slovakia: $7.1 million (up 0.1%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 98.9% of cheese imported by France in 2024.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of cheese to France since 2023 were: Belgium (up 41.2%), France (up 13.8%), Ireland (up 12.8%) and the United Kingdom (up 12.3%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their cheese supplied to French importers included: Poland (down -32.6% from 2023), Hungary (down -17.8%), Netherlands (down -7.6%) and Spain (down -7.4%).
Overall, the value of France’s imported cheese rose by an average 4.2% from all supplying countries since 2023 when cheese purchased cost $3 billion.
Cheese Imports into Italy
Italy’s global purchases of imported cheese totaled US$3 billion in 2024. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Italy imported the highest dollar value worth of cheese during 2024. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2023 to 2024.
- Germany: US$1.2 billion (up 3.3% from 2023)
- Netherlands: $250 million (up 3.5%)
- France: $232.1 million (up 1.6%)
- Czech Republic: $225.4 million (up 17.5%)
- Belgium: $179.2 million (up 2.5%)
- Lithuania: $159.2 million (up 25.9%)
- Greece: $136.2 million (up 11.4%)
- Spain: $107.8 million (down -2.6%)
- Poland: $94.2 million (down -7.3%)
- Switzerland: $71.1 million (up 7.9%)
- Hungary: $64.2 million (down -6%)
- Austria: $59.4 million (down -0.5%)
- Estonia: $48.4 million (up 191.6%)
- Denmark: $29.6 million (up 25.7%)
- Romania: $27.8 million (up 34.2%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 97.1% of cheese imported by Italy in 2024.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of cheese to Italy since 2023 were: Estonia (up 191.6%), Romania (up 34.2%), Lithuania (up 25.9%) and Denmark (up 25.7%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their cheese supplied to Italian importers were: Poland (down -7.3% from 2023), Hungary (down -6%), Spain (down -2.6%) and Austria (down -0.5%).
Overall, the value of Italy’s imported cheese advanced by an average 6.8% from all supplying countries since 2023 when cheese purchased cost $2.8 billion.
Cheese Imports into the United Kingdom
United Kingdom’s global purchases of imported cheese totaled US$2.65 billion in 2024. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which the U.K. imported the highest dollar value worth of cheese during 2024. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2023 to 2024.
- Ireland: US$448.2 million (up 16.6% from 2023)
- Italy: $441.2 million (up 7.3%)
- France: $341.4 million (up 2.4%)
- Denmark: $267.3 million (up 4.1%)
- Germany: $229.5 million (down -2%)
- Netherlands: $180.5 million (up 11.1%)
- Cyprus: $167.1 million (up 2.3%)
- Greece: $124.8 million (up 5.1%)
- Belgium: $102.2 million (down -6.7%)
- Poland: $75.4 million (up 6.9%)
- Spain: $65.9 million (up 15.5%)
- Slovakia: $46 million (up 3.2%)
- New Zealand: $39.2 million (up 17,073%)
- Switzerland: $24.8 million (up 2.4%)
- Austria: $21.6 million (down -0.1%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 97.1% of cheese imported by the United Kingdom in 2024.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of cheese to the UK since 2023 were: New Zealand (up 17073.2%), Ireland (up 16.6%), Spain (up 15.5%) and the Netherlands (up 11.1%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their cheese supplied to UK importers were: Belgium (down -6.7% from 2023), Germany (down -2.0%) and Austria (down -0.1%).
Overall, the value of the United Kingdom’s imported cheese increased by an average 7.5% from all supplying countries since 2023 when cheese purchased cost $2.5 billion.
See also Cheese Exports by Country, Top Milk Imports by Country, Top Pasta Exporters by Country, Tomatoes Exports by Country and Onions Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Imports – Commodities. Accessed on August 30, 2025
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 30, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 30, 2025
Wikipedia, Cheese. Accessed on August 30, 2025