EU Sees 2% Growth In Ice Cream Production In 2024: Eurostat

Germany retained its position as the top ice cream producer in the EU for the year at 607 million litres.

France emerged second at 501 million litres, followed by Italy at 492 million litres, data revealed.

Rounding off the top five are Spain and Poland at 378 million litres and 298 million litres, respectively.

Among the top five producers, only Poland registered a surge in production with a 29% increase.

France reported a 12% decline in production, while Italy, Spain 6% and Germany reported declines of 7%, 6% and 1%, respectively.

However, the overall production of ice cream in EU countries increased with significant increases in Belgium (+35%), Bulgaria (+19%), and Czechia (+15%), data showed, ESM reports.

Top Exporters

EU countries exported 265.3 million kilograms of ice cream to non-EU countries and imported 69.3 million kilograms in 2024, Eurostat noted.

This figure represents a 1% increase in exports compared with 2023, while extra-EU imports rose significantly by 24%, or 13.6 million kilograms.

France exported 55.9 million kilograms of ice cream to non-EU countries in 2024, to retain its top spot among EU exporters.

Exports from France accounted for a fifth of the total extra-EU ice cream exports (21%).

Italy emerged second with exports of 42.6 million kilograms or 16% of EU ice cream exports, followed by the Netherlands at 31.9 million kilograms.

Germany exported 28.2 million kilograms, slightly ahead of Belgium’s 27 million kilograms.

The survey does not include data from Cyprus, Luxembourg, and Malta due to the size of their economies.

Eurostat also noted that data for 2023 and 2024 from Ireland and Slovenia were confidential; data from Hungary and Slovakia were deemed unreliable; and 2024 data on total sold production were not available for Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and Sweden.