EU ice cream production grew by 5 % in 2022

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In 2022, the EU produced 3.2 billion litres of ice cream, marking a 5% increase from the previous year.

EU Ice Cream production gen 1

Among the EU countries, Germany was the main producer of ice cream in 2022, producing 620 million litres of ice cream, followed by France (591 million litres) and Italy (571 million litres).

As well as being the largest ice cream producer in 2022, Germany produced on average the cheapest ice cream at EUR1.5 per litre. France reported an average price of EUR 1.9 per litre of ice cream, while Italy reported an average price of EUR 2.3 per litre of ice cream.

The most expensive ice cream was produced in Austria, with an average price of EUR 7.0 per litre of ice cream, followed by Denmark (EUR 4.4 per litre), and Finland (EUR 2.8 per litre).

Ice Cream Production EU 2

France accounted for a fifth of the total extra-EU ice cream exports

In 2022, the EU countries exported 250 million kilogrammes (kg) of ice cream to non-EU countries, worth a total of EUR 930 million. On the other hand, imports of ice cream from non-EU countries amounted to 61 million kg, valued at EUR 203 million. The quantity of extra-EU ice cream imports decreased by 14 % in 2022, compared with 2021, while exports dropped by only 2 %.

France exported 53 million kg of ice cream in 2022, accounting for 21 % of extra-EU ice cream exports. This made it the largest ice cream exporter out of all EU countries, ahead of the Netherlands (42 million kg of ice cream; 17 % of total extra-EU exports), Italy (31 million kilogrammes; 13 %), Germany (28 million kilogrammes; 11 %) and Belgium (23 million kilogrammes; 9 %).

Ice Cream Producers EU 3

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Methodological notes:

Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden: 2022 data on production not available.
Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta: exempt from providing data on production due to their economic sizes.