European Union: Dairy and Products Annual

EU milk production in 2024 is forecast to fall slightly to 149.5 million metric tons (MMT), returning to similar levels of 2022 as a result of declining cow numbers and lower milk production profitability. With stable demand from domestic and export markets in 2024, the forecast minimal decrease of EU milk production is expected to cause a slight drop in EU factory use – 160,000 metric tons (MT) below the 2023 estimated volume. This will require dairy processors to carefully decide for which products they will use the available milk. Cheese production is forecast to remain the primary output goal of the EU dairy processing industry, supported by the solid domestic cheese consumption and continued strong export demand. EU27 cheese production in 2024 is forecast to increase by 0.29 percent over 2023 levels, reaching 10.42 MMT. This comes at the expense of the production of butter, non-fat dry milk (NFDM), and whole milk powder (WMP).