Milk consumption in Germany has fallen to a new record low, as more people in the country switch to non-dairy alternatives such as oat, soy and almond drinks. In the past 50 years, milk consumption across Germany has halved. 

Germans are drinking less milk than ever before

According to a statement from the Federal Information Centre for Agriculture, the per capita consumption of all types of cow's milk fell by 2,2 kilograms to an average of 47,8 kilograms in 2021. That’s the lowest since records began in Germany back in 1991.

One of the key reasons behind the decline of cow’s milk in Germany is down to the increasing popularity of other types of food and drink containing alternatives to cow’s milk. Vegan diets are also becoming more popular in Germany, meaning that more people are choosing to pursue a diet without meat, fish or other animal products. 

Germans consumed on average 80 kilograms of milk a year in 1970

According to a spokesperson for the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Nutrition (BLE) in Bonn, an authority based at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, in 1970 everyone in the old federal republic consumed an average of more than 80 kilograms of drinking milk per year. Figures for former East Germany at that time are unavailable. 

By contrast, in 2012 Germans consumed an average of almost 52 kilograms of drinking milk a year. Despite this, the volume of cheese produced in Germany has continued to rise, increasing by 1 percent to 2,67 million tons compared to 2020.