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Cheese Exports by Country

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Global sales from cheese exported by all countries totaled US$45 billion for 2024.

The overall value of cheese exports increased by an average 35.1% for all exporting countries from five years earlier in 2020 when total cheese shipments were valued at $33.3 billion.

From 2023 to 2024, the value of globally exported cheese grew 4.2% starting from $43.2 billion.

Shipments from the world’s 5 biggest cheese exporters by value (Germany, Italy, Netherlands, France and the United States of America) generated well over half (55.8%) of the worldwide value of cheese exported in 2024.

Among continents, exporters in European countries sold the highest dollar value worth of cheese on international markets with shipments amounting to $37.7 billion or 83.7% of globally exported cheese. Cheese exports from North America took a 5.9% share, ahead of exporters located in the Oceania continent (mostly New Zealand and Australia) at another 5.5% worth.

Smaller percentages came from suppliers in Asia (2.6%), Latin America (1.9%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Africa (0.3%).

For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for cheese and curd is 0406.

Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of cheese during 2024.

Germany: US$6.7 billion (15% of total cheese exports)
Italy: $5.8 billion (13%)
Netherlands: $5.8 billion (12.8%)
France: $4.3 billion (9.5%)
United States: $2.5 billion (5.5%)
Denmark: $2.3 billion (5.1%)
Belgium: $1.69 billion (3.8%)
New Zealand: $1.66 billion (3.7%)
Ireland: $1.57 billion (3.5%)
Poland: $1.3 billion (2.9%)
United Kingdom: $1.13 billion (2.5%)
Greece: $1.06 billion (2.4%)
Austria: $941.6 million (2.1%)
Spain: $866.5 million (1.9%)
Switzerland: $820.6 million (1.8%)

By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 85.4% of cheese exported globally in 2024.

Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing cheese exporters since 2023 were: United States of America (up 12.6%), United Kingdom (up 11.6%), Ireland (up 9.6%) and Italy (up 9.3%).

New Zealand was the lone top competitor to post a decline in its exported cheese sales, down -7.3% from 2023.

The 100 major exporters of cheese in the database below represent 99.997% of the value of cheese sold on international markets during 2024.

RankExporterCheese Exports2023-4

1.	Germany	$6,742,250,000	+3.4%
2.	Italy	$5,848,888,000	+9.3%
3.	Netherlands	$5,757,666,000	+1.5%
4.	France	$4,292,670,000	+2.8%
5.	United States	$2,471,989,000	+12.6%
6.	Denmark	$2,279,638,000	+6.6%
7.	Belgium	$1,688,125,000	+3.7%
8.	New Zealand	$1,659,138,000	-7.3%
9.	Ireland	$1,567,091,000	+9.6%
10.	Poland	$1,314,590,000	+5.4%
11.	United Kingdom	$1,134,895,000	+11.6%
12.	Greece	$1,058,286,000	+5.7%
13.	Austria	$941,646,000	+1.4%
14.	Spain	$866,485,000	+5.9%
15.	Switzerland	$820,639,000	+7.9%
16.	Australia	$809,084,000	+18.2%
17.	Czech Republic	$517,765,000	+12.9%
18.	Saudi Arabia	$433,403,000	+9.5%
19.	Luxembourg	$384,929,000	+0.9%
20.	Argentina	$360,266,000	+22.1%
21.	Cyprus	$357,687,000	+2.8%
22.	Lithuania	$323,209,000	+18.5%
23.	Hungary	$257,275,000	+11.9%
24.	Bahrain	$240,672,000	-45.2%
25.	Slovakia	$231,402,000	+8.6%
26.	Türkiye	$224,807,000	+1.6%
27.	Nicaragua	$223,393,000	-3.5%
28.	Estonia	$203,354,000	+57.1%
29.	Latvia	$152,067,000	-0.3%
30.	Sweden	$123,533,000	-2.4%
31.	Russia	$123,110,000	+23.5%
32.	Romania	$122,916,000	+15.3%
33.	Uruguay	$104,163,000	-8.6%
34.	Bulgaria	$103,393,000	-22.9%
35.	Canada	$102,627,000	+26.6%
36.	Belarus	$89,160,000	+31.1%
37.	Portugal	$84,513,000	+6%
38.	Mexico	$81,048,000	+65.1%
39.	Egypt	$76,964,000	-54.2%
40.	South Africa	$67,039,000	+15%
41.	Slovenia	$54,846,000	+6.7%
42.	Ukraine	$54,186,000	+35.7%
43.	India	$53,531,000	+0.8%
44.	Serbia	$51,598,000	-5.4%
45.	Finland	$48,238,000	-3.4%
46.	Croatia	$45,616,000	+0.2%
47.	Chile	$40,531,000	+18.3%
48.	El Salvador	$33,897,000	+2.4%
49.	Singapore	$26,681,000	+9.5%
50.	Vietnam	$22,955,000	+33.5%
51.	Jordan	$22,502,000	-34.6%
52.	Honduras	$22,010,000	+29.2%
53.	Iran	$21,197,000	-84%
54.	Brazil	$19,562,000	-5%
55.	Costa Rica	$17,194,000	+31.3%
56.	Japan	$16,829,000	+16.2%
57.	Iceland	$15,954,000	+105%
58.	United Arab Emirates	$15,929,000	-84.5%
59.	Armenia	$14,085,000	+27.7%
60.	Malaysia	$12,572,000	-2.1%
61.	Indonesia	$12,190,000	+14.3%
62.	Morocco	$10,506,000	-5.6%
63.	Kazakhstan	$10,054,000	+16.2%
64.	Bosnia/Herzegovina	$8,634,000	+0.2%
65.	Thailand	$8,439,000	+25.7%
66.	Hong Kong	$8,407,000	-3.1%
67.	South Korea	$8,115,000	-7.8%
68.	Israel	$7,802,000	-12.1%
69.	Syria	$7,439,000	-50.8%
70.	Colombia	$7,045,000	-12.4%
71.	Jamaica	$6,662,000	-31.2%
72.	Kyrgyzstan	$6,078,000	+30.9%
73.	North Macedonia	$5,483,000	+28.4%
74.	Philippines	$4,743,000	+41.2%
75.	Norway	$4,189,000	+15.9%
76.	China	$3,708,000	+38.8%
77.	Azerbaijan	$3,480,000	-17.2%
78.	Guatemala	$3,073,000	+67.6%
79.	Peru	$2,289,000	-28%
80.	Dominican Republic	$2,216,000	-8.2%
81.	Albania	$1,209,000	+145.7%
82.	Georgia	$909,000	+32.5%
83.	Malta	$863,000	+196.6%
84.	Tunisia	$862,000	-93.1%
85.	Ecuador	$762,000	+66.7%
86.	Kenya	$737,000	+3.9%
87.	Panama	$685,000	+585%
88.	Moldova	$636,000	-90.5%
89.	Iraq	$579,000	+37.5%
90.	Trinidad/Tobago	$551,000	-8%
91.	Lebanon	$458,000	-72.8%
92.	Venezuela	$411,000	+60.5%
93.	Taiwan	$319,000	-22%
94.	Paraguay	$316,000	-71.9%
95.	Nepal	$307,000	-17.5%
96.	Zimbabwe	$272,000	-18.1%
97.	Mauritius	$173,000	-38.9%
98.	Aruba	$148,000	+640%
99.	Pakistan	$146,000	+1522%
100.	Belize	$144,000	0%

Among the above top international suppliers, the fastest gainers were Pakistan (up 1,522% from 2023), Aruba (up 640%), Panama (up 585%), Malta (up 196.6%) then Albania (up 145.7%).

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 2023 data was available.

Countries Earning Largest Trade Surpluses from Cheese

The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for cheese during 2024. 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 down -1.9% since 2023)
Italy: $2.8 billion (up 12.1%)
Denmark: $1.8 billion (up 9.1%)
New Zealand: $1.6 billion (down -6.4%)
Ireland: $1.3 billion (up 13.1%)
France: $1.1 billion (down -1.2%)
Germany: $783.4 million (up 3.9%)
Poland: $560 million (down -5.3%)
United States: $472.1 million (up 27.3%)
Argentina: $352.1 million (up 26.5%)
Greece: $284.4 million (down -3.9%)
Cyprus: $266.5 million (up 2.2%)
Australia: $229.7 million (up 305.6%)
Nicaragua: $206.5 million (down -4.4%)
Switzerland: $204.1 million (up 22.6%)

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 2024. 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$1.5 billion (net export surplus up 4.6% since 2023)
Japan: -$1.3 billion (down -8.2%)
Spain: -$1.1 billion (up 9%%)
Mexico: -$996.2 million (up 18.9%)
mainland China: -$891.3 million (down -7.6%)
Sweden: -$735.1 million (up 7.3%)
South Korea: -$642.1 million (down -24.8%)
Saudi Arabia: -$579% million (down 0%%)
Belgium: -$554.9 million (down -11.8%)
Romania: -$497.9 million (up 12.6%)
Canada: -$386.4 million (down -1.9%)
Portugal: -$356.7 million (up 13.3%)
United Arab Emirates: -$351.8 million (down -10.2%)
Finland: -$325.3 million (down -0.4%)
Brazil: -$283.3 million (up 47%%)

The United Kingdom and Japan recorded the severest deficits in the international trade of cheese. In turn, these negative cashflows highlight those countries’ competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signal 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)

Research Sources:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)-AID, market information centre, Top Global Dairy Companies, Processing Sector. Accessed on June 20, 2025

Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on June 20, 2025

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 20, 2025

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 20, 2025

Wikipedia, Cheese. Accessed on June 20, 2025

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