Middle Eastern Fresh Milk Market Sees Increase
Source: dairynews.today
The Middle Eastern market for fresh milk is on the rise, projected to grow in both volume and value over the next decade.
The Middle East market for whole fresh milk is experiencing a rise in demand, driving an upward consumption trend that is expected to continue over the next decade, according to IndexBox in its new report: Middle East – Whole Fresh Milk – Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights. Forecasts predict a CAGR of +1.3% in volume and +2.3% in value, bringing the market volume to 45 million tons and market value to $37.2 billion by 2035.
The Middle East’s consumption of whole fresh milk fell to 39 million tons in 2024, stabilising the year before. The total consumption volume increased at an average annual rate of +1.1% over the period from 2013 to 2024; the trend pattern remained relatively stable, with only minor fluctuations throughout the analysed period. The peak level of $29.4 billion and then fell modestly in the following year.
With imports, supplies from abroad of whole fresh milk increased by 12% to 80,000 tons for the first time since 2020, thus ending a three-year declining trend. In general, imports, however, recorded a drastic downturn. The pace of growth was the most pronounced in 2020 when imports increased by 39% against the previous year. In value terms, whole fresh milk imports reached $70 million for the region in 2024. Over the period under review, imports saw a deep downturn.
In 2024, Iraq (20,000 tons), the United Arab Emirates (17,000 tons) and Saudi Arabia (14,000 tons) were the key importers of whole fresh milk in the Middle East, creating 63% of total imports. Oman (9,200 tons) held an 11% share (based on physical terms) of total imports, which put it in second place, followed by Yemen (7.2%), Jordan (7.1%), and Qatar (3,400 tons). From 2013 to 2024, the biggest increases were recorded for Yemen (with a CAGR of +15.8%), while purchases for the other leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.
The country with the largest volume of whole fresh milk production was Turkey (22 million tons), comprising approximately 55% of total volume. Moreover, whole fresh milk production in Turkey exceeded the figures recorded by the second-largest producer, Iran (8.4 million tons), threefold. Saudi Arabia (2.9 million tons) ranked third in terms of total production with a 7.3% share. In Turkey, whole fresh milk production expanded at an average annual rate of +1.5% over the period from 2013-2024. The remaining producing countries recorded the following average annual rates of production growth: Iran (+0.2% per year) and Saudi Arabia (+1.8% per year).
The Middle East’s consumption of whole fresh milk fell to 39 million tons in 2024, stabilising the year before. The total consumption volume increased at an average annual rate of +1.1% over the period from 2013 to 2024; the trend pattern remained relatively stable, with only minor fluctuations throughout the analysed period. The peak level of $29.4 billion and then fell modestly in the following year.
With imports, supplies from abroad of whole fresh milk increased by 12% to 80,000 tons for the first time since 2020, thus ending a three-year declining trend. In general, imports, however, recorded a drastic downturn. The pace of growth was the most pronounced in 2020 when imports increased by 39% against the previous year. In value terms, whole fresh milk imports reached $70 million for the region in 2024. Over the period under review, imports saw a deep downturn.
In 2024, Iraq (20,000 tons), the United Arab Emirates (17,000 tons) and Saudi Arabia (14,000 tons) were the key importers of whole fresh milk in the Middle East, creating 63% of total imports. Oman (9,200 tons) held an 11% share (based on physical terms) of total imports, which put it in second place, followed by Yemen (7.2%), Jordan (7.1%), and Qatar (3,400 tons). From 2013 to 2024, the biggest increases were recorded for Yemen (with a CAGR of +15.8%), while purchases for the other leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.
The country with the largest volume of whole fresh milk production was Turkey (22 million tons), comprising approximately 55% of total volume. Moreover, whole fresh milk production in Turkey exceeded the figures recorded by the second-largest producer, Iran (8.4 million tons), threefold. Saudi Arabia (2.9 million tons) ranked third in terms of total production with a 7.3% share. In Turkey, whole fresh milk production expanded at an average annual rate of +1.5% over the period from 2013-2024. The remaining producing countries recorded the following average annual rates of production growth: Iran (+0.2% per year) and Saudi Arabia (+1.8% per year).
