Filenews 30 August 2022
A total of 3.1 billion litres of ice cream were produced by the European Union in 2021, 4% more than last year, according to data published by Eurostat, the EU's statistical office.
In the same year, EU Member States exported 254 million kilos of ice cream to countries outside the EU, with a total value of €850 million, and imported 71 million kg of ice cream from outside the EU, with a total value of €192 million.
Also, although there was a decrease in the quantity of ice cream imports from outside the EU (by 11%) compared to 2020, exports increased in quantity by 9%.
It is noted that Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta are excluded from providing data for this sector due to the small size of their economies, as reported.
The largest producer of ice cream among member states in 2021 was Germany (614 million litres), followed by France (459 million litres, based on own production) and Italy (381 million litres).
France does not provide data for production in the context of subcontracting operations for reasons of confidentiality, but ranks second in the companies' production for themselves.
Germany was also the country that produced the average cheapest ice cream in the EU (€1.4 per litre). In France the average price was €2 per litre and in Italy at €2.1 per litre.
The country with the largest exports of ice cream to countries outside the EU in 2021 was France (57 million kg, or 22% of total exports). They were followed by the Netherlands (38 million kg, or 15%), Italy (33 million kg, or 13%), Germany (24 million kg, or 10%) and Belgium (23 million kg, or 9%).
