Dairy Statistic

Dairy industry in the UK: statistics
Standard Note: SN/SG/2721 Last updated: 30 June 2011 Author: Oliver Hawkins Social & General Statistics Section

This note sets out key statistics and current trends for the UK dairy industry. More detailed information on milk prices can be found in Standard Note SN/SC/546: Milk Prices.

Contents
A. B. C. D. E. F. UK dairy industry UK dairy herd Production International Trade Consumption Farm-gate prices Table 1: UK dairy cow numbers, 1980 to 2010 Table 2: Number of registered UK dairy production holdings, 1995 to 2010 Table 3: Average UK dairy herd size, 1999 to 2009 Table 4: UK milk production: 1995 to 2010 Table 5: Milk production in the 15 top milk-producing countries, 1998 to 2009 Table 6: UK trade balance in dairy products, 2009 Chart 1: Farm-gate milk prices, January 1991 to March 2011 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 6 6

Standard Notes are compiled for the benefit of Members of Parliament and their personal staff. Authors are available to discuss the contents of these papers with Members and their staff but cannot advise others.

A.

UK dairy industry

The UK is the third largest milk producer in the EU after Germany and France – and the ninth largest producer in the world. Milk accounted for 16.1% of total agricultural output in the UK in 2010. 1 Around 13 billion litres of milk are produced each year. Most of this is consumed within the UK, as liquid milk and dairy products. The industry was worth £3.3 billion at market prices. 2 In 2010, around half (51%) of the milk processed in the UK was used for liquid milk. A further 26% was processed as cheese, with the remainder used for milk powder and condensed milk (10%), cream (2%), butter (2%), yoghurt (2%) and other products (3%). 3

B.

UK dairy herd

Table 1 shows that the number of dairy cows in the UK has declined steadily since 1980. The total has fallen from 3.2 million in 1980, to 1.8 million in 2010: a 43% reduction. The decline in the size of the dairy herd has been accompanied by a similar fall in the number of dairy producers. Table 2 shows that the number of registered dairy producers in the UK fell from 35,741 in 1995 to 15,716 in 2010. Table 3 shows that the average herd size has risen, as those holdings with smaller herds have left the industry. In 2009 the average number of cows per herd was 113, compared to 80 in 1999.

C.

Production

While the number of UK dairy cows has decreased, the yield per cow had been increasing up to 2005. As a result, total domestic milk production has been fairly static between 1995 and 2005. Between 2005 and 2009 total domestic milk production has fallen. However, in 2010 production increased for the first time since 2003, and average yield per cow has increased every year since 2008 (see Table 4). 4 Table 5 details milk production over the period 1998-2009 in the fifteen top milk-producing countries in 2009. The decline in production over the period in the UK corresponds to reduced outputs in a number of other European countries. By contrast, production in China, Pakistan, India, Brazil and New Zealand has increased considerably over the period.

Defra, Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2010, May 2011, Table 9.1: http://www.defra.gov.uk/statistics/foodfarm/cross-cutting/auk/ 2 Defra, Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2010, May 2011, Table 5.17: http://www.defra.gov.uk/statistics/foodfarm/cross-cutting/auk/ 3 Dairy Co. UK Milk Utilisation.16 May 2011. 4 The average yields have to be taken with a degree of caution as they are based only on the total milk production recorded divided by the size of the dairy herd.

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D.

International Trade

There is little overseas trade in liquid milk, but considerable trade in processed products. In 2009 less than 0.5% of liquid milk produced in the EU was exported. 5 Table 6 shows that the UK had a negative trade balance in dairy products in 2009 – mainly butter and cheese. Imports make up a very small proportion of total supply of liquid milk in the UK. Less than 1% of milk available to UK dairies was imported in 2010. 6 For milk products, imports are more important. The UK imports significant quantities of butter and cheese, being 67% and 54% self-sufficient in each respectively in 2009. 7 For cheese, imports are largely from other European countries: Ireland, France, Germany, Italy and Belgium were the leading origin countries for these imports in 2010. Imported butter mainly comes from New Zealand, Denmark and Ireland. 8

E.

Consumption

In 1995, doorstep delivery accounted for 45% of household purchases of milk in Great Britain. By the end of 2010, this proportion had declined to 5%, with retailers accounting for the remaining 95% of sales. This switch has been accompanied by a growing price differential between milk from the two sources. In 1995, a pint of milk cost an average of 37.9p on the doorstep and 23.9p from retailers. By the end of 2010, a pint cost 57.5p on the doorstep and 36p from retailers. 9

F.

Farm-gate prices

Farm-gate prices are those received by milk producers. They are monitored monthly and represent the average price per litre, net of delivery charges. Chart 1 shows that until 2007, the trend was towards declining prices, from around 25 pence per litre (ppl) in 1997 to 18 ppl in November 2007. However, a sharp upturn in prices since November 2007 means that the 12-month moving average has now risen to around 25 ppl.

Dairy Co. Dairy statistics: an insider's guide 2010, p51. http://www.dairyco.net/library/market-information/dairy-statistics/dairy-statistics-an-insider's-guide-2010.aspx 6 Defra, Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2010, May 2011, Table 5.17: http://www.defra.gov.uk/statistics/foodfarm/cross-cutting/auk/ 7 Defra, Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2009, April 2010, Table 5.18: http://www.defra.gov.uk/statistics/foodfarm/cross-cutting/auk/ 8 Dairy Co. UK Dairy Imports. 24 May 2011 http://www.dairyco.net/library/market-information/datum/uk-dairy-imports.aspx 9 Diary Co Liquid Milk Expenditure and Volume Sales, 5 May 2011: http://www.dairyco.net/datum/consumer/liquid-milk-market/liquid-milk-market.aspx

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Table 1: UK dairy cow numbers, 1980 to 2010 (thousands)
England & Wales 2,672 2,580 2,324 2,205 2,103 2,079 1,981 1,934 1,938 1,844 1,760 1,730 1,703 1,645 1,575 1,495 1,470 1,428 1,385 1,381 Scotland¹ 282 274 245 235 226 225 217 216 214 207 196 199 198 195 197 199 198 192 187 185 Northern Ireland 270 294 278 274 271 281 279 288 286 284 295 298 290 288 291 285 286 289 285 281 United Kingdom 3,224 3,148 2,847 2,714 2,600 2,585 2,477 2,438 2,438 2,335 2,251 2,227 2,191 2,128 2,063 1,979 1,954 1,909 1,857 1,847

1980 1985 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001² 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Notes:

Source:

¹ Provisional June Census Data. ² Figures for 2001 should be treated w ith caution due to the foot and mouth disease outbreak. DairyCo, Cow Numbers

Table 2: Number of registered UK dairy production holdings, 1995 to 2010
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Source:

England & Wales 28,093 27,092 26,110 24,681 23,286 21,772 20,191 18,695 16,977 15,846 14,732 13,778 12,867 12,252 11,743 11,256
DairyCo, Producer Numbers

Scotland 2,239 2,135 2,009 1,951 1,896 1,795 1,624 1,639 1,590 1,569 1,523 1,472 1,429 1,351 1,298 1,266

Northern Ireland 5,409 5,343 5,409 5,121 5,039 4,855 4,741 4,596 4,425 4,201 4,058 3,761 3,619 3,457 3,363 3,194

United Kingdom 35,741 34,570 33,528 31,753 30,221 28,422 26,556 24,930 22,992 21,616 20,313 19,011 17,915 17,060 16,404 15,716

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Table 3: Average UK dairy herd size, 1999 to 2009
1999 85 61 99 52 80 2000 88 62 102 54 84 2001 93 66 108 58 86 2002 98 67 109 60 89 2003 101 71 111 61 91 2004 96 74 113 63 92 2005 94 75 119 66 98 2006 96 83 125 69 104 2007 101 61 128 69 109 2008 103 63 133 73 112 2009 105 64 135 75 113

England Wales Scotland Northern Ireland United Kingdom
Source:

DairyCo, Average herd size

Table 4: UK milk production, 1995 to 2010
Total milk production (million litres)¹ 14,259 14,256 14,426 14,220 14,587 14,078 14,291 14,447 14,583 14,134 14,059 13,909 13,626 13,326 13,204 13,540 Average yield (litres per cow) 5,398 5,545 5,790 5,775 5,964 5,979 6,346 6,493 6,621 6,763 6,986 6,977 6,913 6,943 7,086 7,315

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010p
Note:

¹ Please note that total milk production is based on all milk produced on farm, including the milk w hich is delivered to dairies, milk used on farm in the production of dairy products, milk consumed in farm households, milk fed to livestock and farm w aste. Suckled milk is excluded. p Figures are provisional Defra, Agriculture in the UK 2010, Table 5.17

Source:

Table 5: Milk production in the 15 top milk-producing countries in the world in 2009, 1998 to 2009 million tonnes

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

USA India China Russian Federation Brazil Germany France New Zealand UK Poland Italy Pakistan Turkey Netherlands Ukraine
Source:

71.4 30.5 7.0 33.0 19.3 28.4 24.8 11.4 14.6 12.6 11.8 7.7 8.8 11.0 13.5

73.8 32.6 7.5 32.0 19.7 28.3 24.9 10.9 15.0 12.3 11.9 7.9 9.0 11.2 13.1

76.0 33.0 8.6 32.0 20.4 28.3 25.0 12.2 14.5 11.9 12.3 8.0 8.7 11.2 12.4

75.0 34.5 10.6 32.6 21.1 28.2 24.9 13.1 14.7 11.9 11.3 8.2 8.5 11.0 13.2

77.1 34.6 13.4 33.2 22.3 27.9 25.2 13.9 14.9 11.9 11.3 8.4 7.5 10.7 13.8

77.3 35.0 17.8 33.1 22.9 28.5 24.6 14.3 15.0 11.9 11.3 8.5 9.5 11.1 13.4

77.5 37.3 22.9 31.9 24.2 28.2 24.4 15.0 14.6 11.8 10.7 8.7 9.6 10.9 13.4

80.3 39.8 27.8 30.9 25.4 28.5 24.9 14.6 14.5 11.9 11.0 8.8 10.0 10.8 13.4

82.5 41.1 32.3 31.2 26.2 28.0 24.2 15.2 14.3 12.0 11.0 10.7 10.9 11.0 13.0

84.2 43.5 35.6 31.9 26.1 28.4 24.4 15.6 14.0 12.1 10.6 11.1 11.3 11.1 12.0

86.2 44.1 35.9 32.1 27.6 28.7 24.5 15.2 13.7 12.4 11.3 11.6 11.3 11.3 11.5

85.9 45.1 35.5 32.3 29.1 27.9 23.3 15.4 13.2 12.4 12.2 12.0 11.6 11.5 11.4

Change over period 20.2% 48.2% 410.2% -1.9% 51.0% -1.6% -6.0% 35.3% -9.5% -1.2% 3.3% 54.7% 31.2% 4.3% -16.0%

Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, PRODSTAT database

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Table 6: UK trade balance in dairy products, 2009
000 tonnes

Butter Cheese Cream Condensed milk Skimmed milk powder Total
Note: Source:

Imports 90 411 61 37 66 665

Exports 26 103 66 4 72 271

All figures are provisional Defra, Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2009 , Table 5.18

Chart 1: Farm-gate milk prices, Jan 1991 to Mar 2011
(monthly data including bonus payments) 30

25

20

pence per litre

15

`

10
Average monthly price 12 month moving average

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0

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Chart 1: Farm-gate milk prices: Jan 1991 to March 2011 Notes: ¹ Average UK milk prices, net of delivery charges and including retrospective bonuses. No deductions for suprelevy have been made. Source: DariyCo, Farmgate milk prices, 9 May 2011.

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2011