The United States made 6.63 million tonnes of cheese in 2023, about a quarter of the world total, according to FAOSTAT.
The United States is the world's largest cheese producer, with 6.63 million tonnes in 2023. Germany is second at 3.04 million tonnes and France third at 2.22 million tonnes. The ranking uses FAOSTAT's 'Cheese (All Kinds)' production by country for 2023, the latest year FAO publishes.
FAOSTAT puts world cheese production at 27.35 million tonnes in 2023. The United States made 24.2% of it, more than Germany and France combined, and the top ten countries together account for 66.9%. This list uses one dataset and one year: FAO's 'Cheese (All Kinds)' item for 2023, the latest year for which FAOSTAT publishes cheese production. It counts cheese from cow, buffalo, sheep and goat milk, including cheese made from skimmed milk.
The United States produced 6.63 million tonnes of cheese in 2023 by FAOSTAT's all-kinds measure, 24.2% of the world total and up 0.5% on 2022. Of that, 207 thousand tonnes is a component FAO imputed or estimated.
Germany produced 3.04 million tonnes of cheese in 2023 by FAOSTAT's all-kinds measure, 11.1% of the world total and up 0.6% on 2022. Of that, 682 thousand tonnes is a component FAO imputed or estimated.
France produced 2.22 million tonnes of cheese in 2023 by FAOSTAT's all-kinds measure, 8.1% of the world total and down 0.4% on 2022. Of that, 309 thousand tonnes is a component FAO imputed or estimated.
Italy produced 1.34 million tonnes of cheese in 2023 by FAOSTAT's all-kinds measure, 4.9% of the world total and down 1.1% on 2022.
Poland produced 1.06 million tonnes of cheese in 2023 by FAOSTAT's all-kinds measure, 3.9% of the world total and up 5.3% on 2022. Of that, 88 thousand tonnes is a component FAO imputed or estimated.
The Netherlands produced 1.02 million tonnes of cheese in 2023 by FAOSTAT's all-kinds measure, 3.7% of the world total and up 4.7% on 2022.
Türkiye produced 0.83 million tonnes of cheese in 2023 by FAOSTAT's all-kinds measure, 3.0% of the world total and up 9.0% on 2022. Of that, 57 thousand tonnes is a component FAO imputed or estimated.
Russia produced 0.79 million tonnes of cheese in 2023 by FAOSTAT's all-kinds measure, 2.9% of the world total and down 8.5% on 2022. FAO flags this figure as an estimate.
Egypt produced 0.77 million tonnes of cheese in 2023 by FAOSTAT's all-kinds measure, 2.8% of the world total and down 8.6% on 2022. FAO flags this figure as an estimate.
Canada produced 0.60 million tonnes of cheese in 2023 by FAOSTAT's all-kinds measure, 2.2% of the world total and down 0.2% on 2022. Of that, 31 thousand tonnes is a component FAO imputed or estimated.
| # | Name | Share of world (our calc.) | Change vs 2022 (our calc.) | FAO flag |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 24.2% | +0.5% | A (official figure) |
| 2 | Germany | 11.1% | +0.6% | A (official figure) |
| 3 | France | 8.1% | -0.4% | A (official figure) |
| 4 | Italy | 4.9% | -1.1% | A (official figure) |
| 5 | Poland | 3.9% | +5.3% | A (official figure) |
| 6 | Netherlands | 3.7% | +4.7% | A (official figure) |
| 7 | Türkiye | 3.0% | +9.0% | A (official figure) |
| 8 | Russia | 2.9% | -8.5% | E (estimated value) |
| 9 | Egypt | 2.8% | -8.6% | E (estimated value) |
| 10 | Canada | 2.2% | -0.2% | A (official figure) |
Countries are ranked by 2023 production of FAOSTAT item 'Cheese (All Kinds)' (domain QCL, element Production, unit tonnes), from FAO's bulk download file released in December 2025. That file has no 2024 cheese figures, so 2023 is the latest complete year. 'Cheese (All Kinds)' is FAO's own total of five cheese items (whole cow milk, skimmed cow milk, buffalo, sheep and goat milk); we checked that it equals the sum of those items for every country. Only country rows are ranked; regional and economic groupings are excluded. FAOSTAT's 'China' row (mainland plus Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) is excluded and 'China, mainland' is used instead, so nothing is counted twice; mainland China (232 thousand tonnes) is outside the top ten, and FAOSTAT has no 2023 cheese figure for Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan. Values are million tonnes rounded to two decimals; ranks use unrounded tonnes and no two countries tie. FAO flags the totals for Russia and Egypt as estimates (flag E). Several officially reported totals include a component FAO imputed, most often skimmed-milk cheese; for Poland that component is 88 thousand tonnes, and without it the Netherlands (1.02) would rank above Poland. Shares of the world total and changes against 2022 are our calculations from the same file. Unlike the previous version of this page, no USDA figures are mixed in.
The United States, with 6.63 million tonnes in 2023 according to FAOSTAT, 24.2% of world production.
FAOSTAT's December 2025 release has world and country cheese production up to 2023; it has no 2024 cheese figures yet.
This list uses only FAOSTAT's 'Cheese (All Kinds)' item, so every country is measured on the same basis. Figures from other publishers, such as USDA, are not mixed in, and they need not match FAO's.
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