Interprofesional Láctea (InLac) asks the next government to implement a comprehensive plan to promote the consumption of dairy products in Spain as part of a balanced and healthy diet to avoid the ruin of the sector in view of the current 4.3% drop in milk consumption.
The Spanish dairy sector is made up of livestock production and the dairy industry and contributes 11,820 million euros a year to the Spanish economy, employing around 80,000 people, as well as promoting significant economic activity in various sectors, including logistics. The dairy industry generates 8,640 million euros per year, which represents 1.8% of the national industrial production, and 9.2% of the food sector.
Of the total milk produced in 2015, 89% was from cows, 6% from sheep and 5% from goats. The Cantabrian coast produces more than 50% of the cow’s milk in Spain and concentrates almost 80% of the farmers. Sheep milk production is mainly located in Castilla y León (64.4%), followed by Castilla-La Mancha (26.5%), and goat milk in Andalucía, with 42.6% of production, also followed by Castilla-La Mancha, with just over 19%. Thus, the Spanish dairy industry produces 7.3 million tons of dairy products each year, with an increase of more than 14% in this period. The communities with the highest number of dairies are Castilla y León, Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha and Catalonia, with approximately 10% of the total each, followed by the Basque Country and the Canary Islands, with the same percentage (8.5%).
In 2015, Spanish households consumed 3,271 million liters of liquid milk, representing an economic value of €2,322 million. However, these data represent a 0.5% decrease in consumption and a 1.9% decrease in economic value. This highlights that milk consumption fell by 4.3%, from 3,419 million liters in 2011 to 3,271 million liters in 2015. In 2015, 73.3 liters of milk were consumed per capita.
As for dairy derivatives, Spanish households consumed 1,597 million kilos (35.79 kilos per capita), representing a 1% increase over 2014. The economic value amounted to 5,633 million euros, 0.6% more than the previous year. Yogurts and fermented milks accounted for 39% of the consumption of dairy products (27% of the value), followed by cheese, with almost 20% of consumption (almost 45% of the value).
