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Ice cream global trade 2025: China and Thailand exports grow in global market still dominated by EU

In a ranking dominated by Europe, Thailand continues to rank among the top 10 exporters of ice cream, while China moves up to 13th position in volume and in value, according to latest data from the United Nations Comtrade database

Ice cream top producers in 2025

 

According to the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), the United States produced about 4.7 billion litres (1.23 billion gallons) of ice cream in 2025 [1], a slight decrease from the 5 billion litres produced in 2024.

 

Eurostat reported that the EU produced 3.4 billion litres of ice cream, marking a 2% increase from 2024 (3.4 billion litres) [2]. Among the EU countries, Germany remained the main producer of ice cream in 2025, producing 608 million litres, followed by Italy (549 million litres) and France (525 million litres).

 

Ice cream global trade in 2025

 

Europe continued to dominate the global ice cream trade in 2025, both in exports and imports, according to data from the United Nations Comtrade database [3].

In a ranking led in 2025 by Germany, France, Belgium and Poland, Thailand was the world’s 10th largest exporter of ice cream in volume, 12th in value, compared to 9th and 11th respectively in 2024.

Considered to be Asia’s largest ice cream exporter, Thailand’s ice cream exports reached 136 million US dollars in 2025, with an expected growth rate of 4% year on year in 2026, according to Thailand’s Trade Policy and Strategy Office [4].

 

Previously ranking as the 15th largest exporter of ice cream in volume in 2024 and 20th in value, China progressed to the 13th position both in volume and value in 2025 (see figure 1). According to Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), in July 2026, China’s year-on-year ice cream exports more than doubled (+ 115%), thanks to an increase in exports to the United States, Germany, and Australia [5].

 

Figure 1. Top 20 ice cream exporters in volume and value (figure created by IIR using UN Comtrade data [3])

 

Sources

[1] IDFA - International Dairy Foods Association. (2025). Ice Cream Sales & Trends. https://www.idfa.org/ice-cream-sales-trends

[2] Eurostat. (19 août 2026). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/fr/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20260819-1

[3] UN Comtrade Database. https://comtradeplus.un.org/TradeFlow

[4] https://www.thaipbsworld.com/world/559126  

[5] https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-product/ice-cream/reporter/chn