Dutch dairy industry grew strongly in 2022

The dairy market in the Netherlands showed a positive trend in 2022, with milk prices showing an upward trend. Throughout the year, the rise in milk prices continued, with a record level of €60 per 100 kg starting in the second half of 2022. This represented an impressive 46% increase over the previous year, greatly improving returns for dairy farmers, partly due to a decrease in cost price.

Milk production in the Netherlands increased by 1.0% to over 14 billion kg in 2022. After a decline during the first five months of the year, a year and a half of decline came to an end, mainly due to attractive milk prices that encouraged farmers to increase production again.

Less milk processed

In contrast, the dairy industry in the Netherlands processed about 3% less milk in 2022, totaling 14.1 billion kg. Cheese production fell 1%, with Gouda cheese accounting for the largest share. The production of drinking milk and products decreased by 4%, skim milk powder by over 2% and non-skim milk powder by as much as 24%, mainly due to declining exports.

Export value increased

Despite the lower volume of processed milk, the export value of dairy increased by 32% to nearly €10.8 billion in 2022. This increase was driven not only by higher market prices, but also by growth in volume in certain product groups. All product groups contributed to the increase in export value, with the exception of whey products where lactose declined.

Major importer

Although the Netherlands is a major exporter of dairy, it also acts as a significant importer of dairy from other EU member states, mainly from Germany, Belgium and Ireland. The import value rose sharply by 36% to nearly €5.5 billion in 2022. The Netherlands' dairy trade surplus in 2022 was €5.3 billion, a significant increase of 29% over the previous year.

View the report ‘Zuivel in cijfers 2022’(Dutch only)
Zuivelnl.org

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