How much cheese do we produce?
In 2021, the Netherlands made 946.8 million kilograms of cheese from cow’s milk. In addition, the Netherlands imported 381.8 million kilograms of cow’s cheese, and exported 942.8 million kilograms. Per inhabitant, Dutch people eat an average of 22.1 kilograms of cheese made from cow’s milk. The Netherlands ranks fourth among cow’s cheese producing countries in the EU, following Germany, France and Italy.
About 26 million kilograms (2.7 percent) less cheese was produced in 2021 than in 2020. Never before has so much cheese been produced in the Netherlands as in 2020, when 972.7 million kilograms of cheese were made from cow’s milk. That year, more milk was delivered to dairies, and a greater proportion of the milk delivered was also used to produce cheese.noot1
| Jaar | Non-organic |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 845 |
| 2016 | 888 |
| 2017 | 874 |
| 2018 | 880 |
| 2019 | 922 |
| 2020 | 971 |
| 2021* | 944 |
| * Provisional figures | |
Almost 60 percent of the milk is used for cheese
Dutch dairies received a total of 14 billion kilograms of fresh cow’s milk in 2020. This represents 94 percent of the total milk production of Dutch cows. Dairy farmers keep the remaining 6 percent for their own use, e.g. for rearing young stock and for their own production of dairy products. Cheese production used 8.3 billion kilograms of cow’s milk that year. This represents 59 percent of the total supply. One kilogram of cheese requires approximately 8.5 kilograms of cow’s milk.
Goat cheese and buffalo cheese too
In addition to cheese made from cow’s milk, cheese is also made from goat’s milk in the Netherlands. In 2020, 27 million kilograms of goat cheese was produced here. In the European Union, only France and Spain produce more goat cheese than the Netherlands.
Cheese is also made from mixed milk and buffalo milk, around 2 million kilograms in 2020. A total of 190 million kilograms of milk was used to make goat cheese, mixed cheese and buffalo cheese. This is about 6.5 kilograms of milk for each kilogram of cheese.
| Jaar | For cheese production | For other products |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 7.37 | 5.96 |
| 2016 | 7.57 | 6.75 |
| 2017 | 7.65 | 6.65 |
| 2018 | 7.70 | 6.18 |
| 2019 | 7.82 | 5.98 |
| 2020 | 8.27 | 5.72 |
Per inhabitant, 22.1 kg of cheese made from cow’s milk
In 2021, the Netherlands had 17.5 million inhabitants, which means that per year, per person some 54 kilograms of factory-made cheese is made from cow’s milk. The Netherlands also imported 381.8 million kilograms of cow’s cheese, adding up to a cheese production of 1,328.6 million kilograms. The Dutch population does not eat that much cheese; most of it (942.8 million kilograms) is destined for foreign countries. What remained in the Netherlands was 385.7 million kilograms of cow’s cheese. Converted to the number of inhabitants, this is 22.1 kg of cheese made from cow’s milk per inhabitant.
Sources
StatLine – Milk supply and dairy production by dairy factories
Eurostat – Milk collection (all milks) and dairy products obtained – annual data
The questions
- How does CBS collect data?
- How much do we cycle per week on average?
- Who are most likely to work part-time?
- How many people visited Bonaire by cruise ship?
- Are people happy with the house they live in?
- How many young women encounter street harassment?
- What do the over-65s do online?
- How many wind turbines in the Netherlands?
- How far is school by bike?
- How many museums are there?
- How much electricity in the Caribbean Netherlands is renewable?
- How many adults are overweight?
- How many cargo ships dock at Dutch seaports?
- What did we listen to on the radio in 1953?
- What is the average lifespan in the Netherlands?
- Where did we go for a holiday in 1947?
- How much fish is landed?
- Where were people in the Netherlands born?
- What do we spend money on?
- How old are Dutch first-time mothers on average?
- How much cheese do we produce?
- How are goods transported through the Netherlands?
- How many people fall victim to cybercrime?
- What is the most spoken language or dialect at home?
- How many shops are there?
- What is the value of Dutch beer exports?
- How often do we have a goosebump moment?
- How many cows graze in fields?
- What are the most popular majors?
- How tall are Dutch people?
- How is the urban bird population doing?
- Where do most people work?
- What colour is our car?
- How does CBS handle your privacy?
Noten
Dairy farmers in the Netherlands supply about 95 percent of milk to dairies. They keep the remaining 5 percent for their own use, e.g. for rearing young stock and for their own production of dairy products, such as farm cheese. The amounts of cheese mentioned in this section only refer to the production of factory cheese in dairies.
The figures from 2021 are provisional.