North America

North America is the second-largest region in the global dairy products market behind Europeⁱ

USA:

There are 53.8 million school children who annually drink 112 liters of milk per capitaⁱⁱ

Children under 18 drink 46% of all milk consumedⁱⁱⁱ

Legislation passed by the US Government mandates that schools remove carbonated soft drink and replace with healthier products (notably milk)^iv

Studies have found that teenage girls who drink adequate amounts of milk and few soft drinks tend to weigh less and have less body fat than those who don’t^v

Researchers have shown that avoiding milk during childhood may increase the risk of being overweight during adolescence^vi

In 2005 Canadians consumed 84 litres of milk per capita, predominantly low-fat (2%) milk^vii

Europe

The various dairy products produced by the European dairy industry, including liquid milk, are an essential and functional contribution to the diet of most consumers in Europe^viii

Western Europe accounts for almost 40 percent of dairy value sales^ix

The “European 25” countries forecast total milk produced for liquid consumption at 33.8 million tones in 2006^x

Finland, Norway, and Sweden have the highest per capita milk consumption in the world^xi

People in the Netherlands consume 130 litres per person per annum - over half a pint of milk a day for every man, woman and child in the country^xii

Europeans spent EURO1.2 billion 2001 on organic milk. Consumption amounted to approximately ½ billion litres, or over 3% the total drinking milk market^xiii

Latin America

Latin America is the fourth largest dairy consuming market in the world^xiv

Brazil is the largest dairy product consumer in Latin America, followed closely by Mexico. Combined, they consume nearly 60% of the 45 billion litres of milk produced in the region^xv

The Latin American dairy industry is currently on track to increase production by 11% between 2002 and 2007^xvi

Egypt, the Middle East, and Africa

Milk consumption in Egypt is approximately 62.6 litres per person per annum, and is expected to grow by almost 9% between 2005 and 2010^xvii

Average milk consumption in the Middle East and North Africa is approximately 99.2 litres per person per annum, and is expected to grow by almost 10% between 2005 and 2010 ^xviii

The population of South Africa is 44.2 million people, with 14.6 million children under 15^xix

Total milk production for South Africa is approximately 2 million litres, with local milk consumption volume slightly higher^xx

The population of Sub-Sahara Africa is 683.8 million people, with 300.8m under 15^xxi

Asia

Asia is the third-largest dairy consuming market in the world^xxii

In Thailand, free milk in schools has played a key part in promotingmilk consumption in the country as a whole: in 1984, per capita milk consumption was just 2 litres per annum – by 1997 this had increased to 18 litres per capita per annum^xxiii

There are 129 million children aged between 3 and 15 in Asia^xxiv

India’s milk production increased from 21.2 million metric tons in 1968–69 to 88.1 million metric tons in 2003–04 – and is one of the largest in the world^xxv

Milk consumption in Japan is approximately 39 kg per capita per annum^xxvi, noting that in Japan, unlike in Europe, the United States, and other Western countries, milk and other dairy products are not widely used in cooking^xxvii

China

Contrary to popular belief, dairy productshave a long history in China, particularly in the coastal cities that were opened to foreigners in the late nineteenth century and in the pastoral regions in northern and western China^xxviii

While rural per capita consumption of dairy products grew weakly in the late 1990s, urban consumption of fresh dairy products has grown an average of 25 percent annually since 1997, reaching 15.7 kg per person in 2002. Household purchases of fluid milk, yoghurt, milk powder, and ice cream are growing rapidly, and away-from-home consumption of cheese has risen with the tide of investment by western-style restaurant chains^xxix

Milk production in China doubled from 1996 to 2002, allowing China to surpass Australia and Japan as the third largest milk producer in Asia^xxx

The government of China has stated its intention to increase milk production by 15 to 18 percent in North China by 2007 through additional investments in genetics, management, and processing^xxxi