1. No category

Dairy industry in the UK: statistics
Standard Note: SN/SG/2721
Last updated:
29 January 2015
Author:
Carl Baker
Social & General Statistics Section
This note sets out key statistics and current trends for the UK dairy industry. Milk accounted
for 16.1% of total agricultural output in the UK in 2013. 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
2013: a 45% reduction. Farm-gate milk prices rose from 18p/litre in 2007 to 34p/litre in 2013,
and have since fallen to 29p/litre as of November 2014.
Contents
A.
UK dairy industry
2
B.
UK dairy herd
2
C.
Production
3
D.
International Trade
4
E.
Consumption
5
F.
Farm-gate prices
5
1
A.
UK dairy industry
The UK is the third-largest milk producer in the EU after Germany and France, and the tenthlargest producer in the world. Milk accounted for 16.1% of total agricultural output in the UK
in 2013.1 Around 14 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 £4.27 billion at
market prices in 2013.2
In 2014 (Jan-Nov) around half (48%) of the milk processed in the UK was used for liquid
milk. A further 26% was processed as cheese.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 2013: a 45% 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 31,731 in 1998 to 14,159 in 2013. Table 3 shows that the average herd size
has risen, as those holdings with smaller herds have left the industry. In 2013 the average
number of cows per herd was 123, compared to 95 in 2003.
Table 1: Dairy cow numbers (thousands): UK 1980-2013
1980
England & Wales
2,672
Scotland¹
282
Northern Ireland
270
United Kingdom
3,224
1985
2,580
274
294
3,148
1990
2,324
245
278
2,847
1995
2,103
226
271
2,600
2000
1,844
207
284
2,335
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
1,575
1,495
1,470
1,428
1,384
1,381
1,349
1,345
1,336
197
187
183
175
170
168
162
163
167
291
285
286
289
285
281
283
285
280
2,063
1,979
1,954
1,909
1,857
1,847
1,814
1,812
1,782
Notes:
Source:
1
¹ Provisional June Census Data.
DairyCo, Cow Numbers
http://w w w .dairyco.org.uk/library/market-information/datum/cow -numbers.aspx
Defra, Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2013, Table 4.1:
Defra, Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2013, Table 8.5:
3 DairyCo. UK Milk Utilisation.
2
Table 2: Number of registered dairy production holdings, June: UK 1998-2013
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Source:
England & Wales
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
10,851
10,724
10,581
Scotland
1,951
1,896
1,795
1,624
1,639
1,590
1,569
1,523
1,472
1,429
1,351
1,298
1,263
1,189
1,163
894
Northern Ireland
5,121
5,039
4,855
4,741
4,596
4,425
4,201
4,058
3,761
3,619
3,457
2,967
2,781
2,753
2,662
2,684
United Kingdom
31,753
30,221
28,422
26,556
24,930
22,992
21,616
20,313
19,011
17,915
17,060
16,008
15,300
14,793
14,549
14,159
DairyCo, Producer Numbers
http://w w w .dairyco.org.uk/non_umbraco/dow nload.aspx?media=5197
Note: Figures for Scotland are for dairy type holdings - where dairy farming contributes more than 2/3rds of the
holding standard gross margins up until 2012. As of June 2013, Scotland has changed its typology which is
now based on 11 farm types and uses the cattle tracing scheme resulting in a significant fall in the number of
holdings compared with 2012**
Table 3: Average dairy herd size: UK 2003-2013
England
Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland
United Kingdom
Source:
C.
2003
102
91
125
66
2004
105
88
124
69
2005
105
91
129
72
2006
111
96
135
84
2007
117
102
138
91
2008
119
105
142
97
2009
121
105
144
96
2010
125
112
146
101
2011
126
115
153
103
2012
131
117
157
107
2013
134
118
153
86
95
97
99
106
112
115
116
113
117
121
123
DairyCo, Average herd size
http://w w w .dairyco.org.uk/non_umbraco/dow nload.aspx?media=5186
Production
While the number of UK dairy cows has decreased, the yield per cow had been increasing
up to 2011. As a result, total domestic milk production has been fairly static between 2008
and 2013, following a slight fall between 2005 and 2008 (see Table 4).
Table 5 details milk production over the period 1992-2012 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. Note
that since the Defra figures and UN figures are gathered and reported on a different basis,
the production figures for the national dataset do not precisely match the international
dataset.
Table 4: Milk production: UK 1998 to 2013
1998
Total milk production (million litres)¹
14,213
Average yield (litres per cow)
5,775
2003
14,576
6,621
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
13,319
13,128
13,453
13,665
13,444
13,539
6,943
7,031
7,273
7,528
7,442
7,535
Note:
Source:
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
p
Figures are provisional
Defra, Agriculture in the UK 2013, Table 8.5
Table 5: Cows milk production in the 15 top milk-producing countries in the world in 2012: 1992-2012
million tonnes
1992
1997
2002
2007
2012
USA
68.4
70.8
77.1
84.2
90.9
India
24.3
29.1
34.6
46.8
54.0
China
5.3
6.3
13.4
35.6
37.8
Brazil
16.3
19.2
22.3
26.1
32.3
Russia
47.0
33.8
33.2
31.9
31.6
Germany
28.0
28.7
27.9
28.4
30.5
France
25.7
24.9
25.2
24.4
24.0
New Zealand
8.1
11.1
13.9
15.6
20.1
Turkey
8.7
8.9
7.5
11.3
16.0
UK
14.8
14.8
14.9
14.0
13.9
Pakistan
3.8
7.6
8.4
11.1
13.4
Poland
13.2
12.1
11.9
12.1
12.7
Argentina
6.8
9.4
8.8
9.8
11.8
Netherlands
11.9
10.9
10.7
11.1
11.7
Ukraine
19.0
13.5
13.8
12.0
11.3
Source:
FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations
Change
1992-2012
Change
2002-2012
+33%
+122%
+616%
+99%
-33%
+9%
-7%
+149%
+83%
-6%
+254%
-4%
+74%
-2%
-41%
+18%
+56%
+183%
+45%
-5%
+9%
-5%
+45%
+113%
-7%
+60%
+7%
+34%
+9%
-19%
http://faostat.fao.org/site/339/default.aspx
D.
International Trade
There is little overseas trade in liquid milk, but considerable trade in processed products. In
2013 1.2% of liquid milk produced in the EU was exported.4 Table 6 shows that the UK had
a negative trade balance in butter and cheese in 2013, but a positive trade balance in milk &
cream.
Imports make up a very small proportion of total supply of liquid milk in the UK. 1% of milk
available to UK dairies was imported in 2013.5 However, milk imports have risen from 75
million litres in 2009 to 132 million litres in 2013 (provisional).
4
5
DairyCo. Dairy statistics: an insider's guide 2014, p54.
Defra, Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2013, Table 8.5:
Table 6: UK trade balance in dairy products, 2009
Thousand tonnes
Imports
Exports
2008
2013
2008
2013
Cheese
422
469
88
125
Milk & Cream
193
245
533
575
81
105
24
45
Butter
2013 figures are provisional.
Source: Defra, Agriculture in the UK 2013
E.
Consumption
In 1995, doorstep delivery accounted for 45% of household purchases of milk in Great
Britain. By the end of 2013, this proportion had declined to 3.2%. 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
2013, a pint cost 81p on the doorstep and 28p from retailers.6
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. There was a sharp upturn in prices in late 2007 and a sustained rise
from 2010 onwards. Late 2014 saw a fall in prices to 29ppl, the lowest rate for two years.
6
DairyCo Liquid Milk Market
Chart 1: Farmgate milk prices 1991-2014, including bonus payments
40
35
30
pence per litre
25
20
`
15
10
Average monthly price
12 month moving average
5
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
0
Chart 1: Farm-gate milk prices: Jan 1991 to March 2014
Notes:
¹ Average UK milk prices, net of delivery charges and including retrospective bonuses. No deductions for suprelevy
have been made.
Source: DairyCo, Farmgate milk prices