Brussels – Summer is ice-cream season. It’s well known that people eat more of it, and in 2025, not only did consumption rise in the European Union, but so did its production. According to Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, in 2025 the EU produced 3.44 billion litres of ice cream, representing a 1.9 per cent increase compared with 2024 (3.38 billion litres).
One might assume that Italy, famous worldwide for its artisan gelato, would have come top of the rankings. In reality, it only secured “a silver medal”. Instead, Germany stood out with 608 million litres in 2025, followed by Italy (549 million), France (525 million), Spain (457 million), and Belgium (274 million). Compared with 2024, all five EU countries recorded an increase in their production. Eurostat highlights that the greatest growth was in Italy (+10 per cent), followed by Belgium (+6), France (+4), Spain (+2) and Germany (+0.2)
The five leading ice cream exporting countries. Credit: Eurostat
As regards trade, in 2025, EU Member States exported 289.8 million kg of ice cream to countries outside the Union and imported 77.8 million kg. The figures show that exports rose by 10 per cent compared with 2024 (+26 million kg), as did imports, which grew by 12 per cent (+8.5 million kg).
As in previous years, France stands out as the EU’s leading exporter of ice cream. In 2025, France alone exported 59.1 million kg of ice cream, accounting for one-fifth of total non-EU ice cream exports (20 per cent). Once again, Italy came second with 55.2 million kg of ice cream exported, accounting for 19 per cent of total EU exports. Next came Belgium (34.5 million kg; 12 per cent of the EU total), Germany (29.9 million kg; 10 per cent) and the Netherlands (26.5 million kg; 9 per cent). Eurostat points out that while ice cream production is expressed in litres, weight (kg) is used as the unit of measurement for imports and exports.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
