Year over year, the value of globally exported milk rose by 9.7% from $30.2 billion during 2020.
The 5 biggest suppliers of milk on global markets ranked by dollar value are New Zealand, Germany, United States of America, Netherlands and France. Combined, those major milk suppliers accounted for over half (54.9%) of international milk sales in 2021.
From a continental perspective, suppliers in Europe sold over half (51.8%) of worldwide milk exports. Led by New Zealand, countries in the continent of Oceania placed second at 27.8%. Shippers in North America were responsible for another 9% of global milk exports ahead of Asia’s milk exporters at 6.9%.
Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean score a 3.6% share, trailed by international milk providers in Africa at 0.9%.
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 containing 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 $10.2 billion (30.8% of the global total) while sweetened milk items under code 0402 equaled $22.9 billion (69.2%).
Overall Milk Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of milk during 2021, encompassing both unsweetened and unsweetened varieties of product.
- New Zealand: US$7.8 billion (23.6% of total milk exports)
- Germany: $3.2 billion (9.6%)
- United States: $2.8 billion (8.5%)
- Netherlands: $2.4 billion (7.1%)
- France: $2 billion (6%)
- Belgium: $1.96 billion (5.9%)
- Australia: $1.4 billion (4.2%)
- Poland: $1 billion (3.1%)
- Ireland: $878 million (2.7%)
- Belarus: $726.1 million (2.2%)
- United Kingdom: $706.5 million (2.1%)
- Argentina: $529.1 million (1.6%)
- Denmark: $504 million (1.5%)
- Spain: $497 million (1.5%)
- Czech Republic: $495.5 million (1.5%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped over four-fifths (81.1%) of worldwide milk exported in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing exporters of milk since 2017 were: United States of America (up 88.8%), Argentina (up 84.6%), Ireland (up 76.5%) and Australia (up 51.1%).
Two top countries posted declines in their exported milk sales namely the Netherlands (down -9.4% from 2020) and the United Kingdom (down -3.7%).
Countries Earning Highest Surpluses Trading Milk
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for milk 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 exported milk and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- New Zealand: US$7.8 billion (net export surplus up 38.6% since 2017)
- United States of America: $2.6 billion (up 94.6%)
- France: $1.16 billion (up 60.9%)
- Australia: $1.15 billion (up 49.9%)
- Germany: $1.06 billion (up 8.2%)
- Netherlands: $850.8 million (down -41.3%)
- Belarus: $716.5 million (up 2.3%)
- Ireland: $541.8 million (up 309.3%)
- Poland: $528.8 million (up 54%)
- Argentina: $527.3 million (up 87.1%)
- Belgium: $507.1 million (up 142.0%)
- Czech Republic: $408.3 million (up 4.3%)
- Denmark: $344.3 million (down -13.2%)
- Uruguay: $286.8 million (down -25.6%)
- United Kingdom: $255.9 million (down -14.7%)
New Zealand has the highest surplus in the international trade of milk. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms New Zealand’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Incurring Worst Deficits Trading Milk
The following countries posted the severest negative net exports for milk 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 imported milk purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- China: -US$6 billion (net export deficit up 97.5% since 2017)
- Algeria: -$1 billion (down -19.2%)
- Mexico: -$934.9 million (up 56%)
- Italy: -$852.7 million (down -12.5%)
- Indonesia: -$829.7 million (up 68.3%)
- Philippines: -$595.5 million (up 28.7%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$550.8 million (down -7.2%)
- Vietnam: -$540.7 million (up 61.6%)
- Nigeria: -$464.9 million (up 17.9%)
- Russia: -$453.9 million (down -33.1%)
- Malaysia: -$444.3 million (up 69.6%)
- Hong Kong: -$444.1 million (down -32.2%)
- Bangladesh: -$422 million (up 29.7%)
- Singapore: -$416.1 million (up 49.3%)
- Taiwan: -$383.9 million (up 34.1%)
Mainland China incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of milk. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights strong Chinese competitive disadvantages for this specific product category. This statistical trend also signals opportunities for milk-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful consumer demand from the highly populous People’s Republic of China.
Milk Exporting Companies
Below are global milk-processing companies that represent established players engaged in the international milk trade. Many of these business entities are cooperatives. The home country for each company is shown within parenthesis.
- Almarai (Saudi Arabia)
- Arla Foods (Denmark)
- Borden Milk Products (United States)
- Canberra Milk (Australia)
- First Milk (United Kingdom)
- Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited (New Zealand)
- FrieslandCampina (Netherlands)
- La Serenísima (Argentina)
- Lactalis (France)
- Zott (Germany)
Searchable List of Milk Exporting Countries
The 100 key exporters of milk available in the following automated database generated 99.98% of total milk sales on international markets during 2021.
| Rank | Supplier | Milk Exports (US$) | 2017-21 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | New Zealand | $7,829,856,000 | +38.9% |
| 2. | Germany | $3,189,005,000 | +6.8% |
| 3. | United States | $2,811,289,000 | +88.8% |
| 4. | Netherlands | $2,354,123,000 | -9.4% |
| 5. | France | $1,995,122,000 | +22.5% |
| 6. | Belgium | $1,959,353,000 | +18.3% |
| 7. | Australia | $1,380,970,000 | +51.1% |
| 8. | Poland | $1,019,994,000 | +48.8% |
| 9. | Ireland | $878,031,000 | +76.5% |
| 10. | Belarus | $726,088,000 | +2.5% |
| 11. | United Kingdom | $706,474,000 | -3.7% |
| 12. | Argentina | $529,140,000 | +84.6% |
| 13. | Denmark | $504,002,000 | +1.8% |
| 14. | Spain | $496,953,000 | +15.9% |
| 15. | Czech Republic | $495,485,000 | +7.3% |
| 16. | Hong Kong | $465,345,000 | -39.9% |
| 17. | Saudi Arabia | $464,358,000 | -6.3% |
| 18. | Austria | $418,112,000 | +6.9% |
| 19. | Lithuania | $325,573,000 | +26.3% |
| 20. | Uruguay | $292,018,000 | -24.9% |
| 21. | Sweden | $277,396,000 | +30.1% |
| 22. | Malaysia | $217,325,000 | -11.2% |
| 23. | Luxembourg | $202,024,000 | +39.1% |
| 24. | Turkey | $193,934,000 | +103.8% |
| 25. | Hungary | $186,670,000 | 0% |
| 26. | Portugal | $183,684,000 | +37.4% |
| 27. | Italy | $180,692,000 | +27.8% |
| 28. | United Arab Emirates | $170,153,000 | -63.2% |
| 29. | Latvia | $169,376,000 | 0% |
| 30. | Finland | $169,006,000 | +41.6% |
| 31. | Thailand | $166,351,000 | +106.7% |
| 32. | Slovenia | $152,000,000 | +14.3% |
| 33. | Singapore | $147,392,000 | -16.7% |
| 34. | India | $140,056,000 | +188.9% |
| 35. | South Africa | $129,066,000 | -1.2% |
| 36. | Estonia | $119,581,000 | +26.8% |
| 37. | Slovakia | $103,043,000 | -7.6% |
| 38. | Costa Rica | $102,292,000 | +34.1% |
| 39. | Mexico | $95,646,000 | -42.9% |
| 40. | Canada | $79,937,000 | -44.4% |
| 41. | Uganda | $72,660,000 | -3.9% |
| 42. | Ukraine | $68,931,000 | -23.7% |
| 43. | Russia | $64,989,000 | +10.4% |
| 44. | Oman | $54,227,000 | -78.2% |
| 45. | Brazil | $54,128,000 | -33% |
| 46. | Chile | $49,883,000 | -22.4% |
| 47. | Switzerland | $44,833,000 | +10.4% |
| 48. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $38,408,000 | +32.7% |
| 49. | Romania | $36,787,000 | 0% |
| 50. | China | $35,204,000 | +0.8% |
| 51. | Egypt | $34,858,000 | +21.6% |
| 52. | Greece | $32,943,000 | +125.4% |
| 53. | South Korea | $32,507,000 | +50.3% |
| 54. | Philippines | $32,474,000 | +108.6% |
| 55. | Bolivia | $32,454,000 | +77.5% |
| 56. | Indonesia | $29,720,000 | +66% |
| 57. | Togo | $27,392,000 | +13.4% |
| 58. | Peru | $25,768,000 | -74.9% |
| 59. | Nicaragua | $23,644,000 | -56.4% |
| 60. | Japan | $23,630,000 | +74.4% |
| 61. | Paraguay | $22,596,000 | +791.4% |
| 62. | Kazakhstan | $20,846,000 | 0% |
| 63. | Viet nam | $19,656,000 | -64% |
| 64. | Kyrgyzstan | $19,635,000 | +139% |
| 65. | Serbia | $18,861,000 | +132% |
| 66. | Croatia | $16,820,000 | +27.3% |
| 67. | Iran | $15,324,000 | -95% |
| 68. | Kuwait | $14,490,000 | +205.1% |
| 69. | Colombia | $14,483,000 | -3.7% |
| 70. | Norway | $11,244,000 | +129.2% |
| 71. | Bulgaria | $10,733,000 | 0% |
| 72. | Honduras | $10,196,000 | +18.3% |
| 73. | Panama | $8,108,000 | +51.8% |
| 74. | Ghana | $7,766,000 | -21.4% |
| 75. | Pakistan | $6,516,000 | -81.2% |
| 76. | El Salvador | $6,459,000 | +126.2% |
| 77. | Zambia | $6,305,000 | 0% |
| 78. | Tunisia | $6,287,000 | -42% |
| 79. | Bahrain | $5,380,000 | 0% |
| 80. | Yemen | $5,294,000 | 0% |
| 81. | Bangladesh | $4,661,000 | +5022% |
| 82. | Senegal | $4,354,000 | +5.9% |
| 83. | Fiji | $3,700,000 | +22.6% |
| 84. | Cyprus | $3,080,000 | +10.5% |
| 85. | Morocco | $2,698,000 | +75.2% |
| 86. | Iceland | $2,073,000 | +382.1% |
| 87. | Jordan | $1,956,000 | -55.4% |
| 88. | Taiwan | $1,757,000 | +27% |
| 89. | Ecuador | $1,744,000 | -21.3% |
| 90. | Trinidad/Tobago | $1,554,000 | -50.3% |
| 91. | Guatemala | $1,548,000 | +122.1% |
| 92. | Azerbaijan | $1,356,000 | +71.9% |
| 93. | Dominican Republic | $1,354,000 | -75.5% |
| 94. | Sri Lanka | $1,217,000 | -45.8% |
| 95. | Cambodia | $829,000 | +51.6% |
| 96. | Guinea | $794,000 | +359% |
| 97. | Nigeria | $787,000 | -80.2% |
| 98. | Jamaica | $645,000 | +37.5% |
| 99. | Ivory Coast | $594,000 | -94.1% |
| 100. | Kenya | $498,000 | -70.1% |
Focusing on the top 100 milk exporters, the fastest-growing suppliers were Bangladesh (up 5,022% from 2017), Paraguay (up 791.4%), Iceland (up 382.1%), Guinea (up 359%), Kuwait (up 188.9%).
Leading decliners over the 5-year period since 2017 were milk exporters in Iran (down -95%), Ivory Coast (down -94.1%), Pakistan (down -81.2%) then Nigeria (down -80.2%).
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 2017 to 2021. (An entry of 0% in that column means no 2017 data was available.)
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 June 17, 2022
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 17, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 17, 2022
Wikipedia, Category:Dairy products companies by country. Accessed on June 17, 2022
Wikipedia, Dairy. Accessed on June 17, 2022
