Cheese: top exporters and importers (2024)

1. Germany$6.6 billion · 14.9%
   see destinations
2. Italy$5.7 billion · 12.8%
   see destinations
3. Netherlands$5.5 billion · 12.4%
   re-exports · see destinations
4. France$4.2 billion · 9.4%
   see destinations
5. United States$2.5 billion · 5.6%
   see destinations
6. Denmark$2.4 billion · 5.4%
   see destinations
7. New Zealand$1.7 billion · 3.9%
   see destinations
8. Ireland$1.6 billion · 3.7%
   see destinations
9. Belgium$1.4 billion · 3.1%
   re-exports
10. Poland$1.3 billion · 3%
11. Greece$1.1 billion · 2.4%
12. Austria$1 billion · 2.3%
13. United Kingdom$921 million · 2.1%
14. Spain$898 million · 2%
15. Switzerland$824 million · 1.9%
16. Australia$783 million · 1.8%
17. Czechia$490 million · 1.1%
18. Saudi Arabia$438 million · 0.99%
19. Bahrain$434 million · 0.98%
20. Cyprus$424 million · 0.96%

Germany went from 14.6% to 14.9% of world exports of cheese

In 2024, Germany accounted for 14.9% of recorded world exports and the three largest exporters together for 40.2%. HHI: 771 out of 10,000; equivalent to 13 exporters of the same size.

Share of recorded exports, not of production: a country that produces a lot and consumes almost all of it may export little

Some of these goods may have been produced in another country: countries record origin in different ways.

Countries where Germany sells more than half of what they buy

Countries that buy more than half of this product from its largest exporter, with its share.

• Austria: 51.1% of its purchases · Dependence of Austria on Germany
• Hungary: 51.9% of its purchases · Dependence of Hungary on Germany
• Bosnia and Herzegovina: 56.6% of its purchases

1. Germany$5.8 billion · 13.1%
   see sources
2. France$3.1 billion · 7%
   see sources
3. Italy$2.8 billion · 6.3%
   see sources
4. United Kingdom$2.6 billion · 5.9%
   see sources
5. Netherlands$2.3 billion · 5.1%
   re-exports · see sources
6. Spain$2 billion · 4.5%
   see sources
7. United States$2 billion · 4.5%
   see sources
8. Belgium$1.9 billion · 4.4%
   re-exports · see sources
9. Japan$1.3 billion · 2.9%
10. Mexico$999 million · 2.3%
11. Saudi Arabia$970 million · 2.2%
12. China$861 million · 1.9%
13. Sweden$860 million · 1.9%
14. Austria$813 million · 1.8%
15. Greece$771 million · 1.7%
16. Poland$757 million · 1.7%
17. Czechia$651 million · 1.5%
18. South Korea$638 million · 1.4%
19. Romania$624 million · 1.4%
20. Switzerland$617 million · 1.4%

• 0406 · Cheese

Products in the same chapter

• Milk powder and condensed milk
• Fresh milk and cream
• Butter
• Yogurt and fermented milk
• Eggs
• Whey
• Honey
• Shelled eggs and egg yolks

Sources and licenses

• CEPII BACI · Licence Ouverte Etalab 2.0
• Natural Earth · Public domain

Methodology

Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), which reconciles what exporters and importers report: countries that stopped reporting (Russia since 2022) appear with their partners’ data. FOB values in current US dollars; tonnes when BACI reports them. The price per tonne is the value of the rows with a weight divided by that weight. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. Data up to 2024.

Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands and Belgium re-export goods from other countries: their figures include transit.