The volume of domestic milk intake by creameries and pasteurisers fell by 2.4% last month compared with the same month in 2022, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO)
Latest figures released today (Monday, March 6) by the CSO show that domestic milk intake by creameries and pasteurisers was estimated at 178.8 million litres for January 2023.
According to Dr. Grzegorz Glaczynski, statistician with the CSO, Ireland “ranks sixth in the European Milk Intake by Creameries and Pasteurisers with 9,087 thousand tonnes for 2022”.
The latest CSO figures also highlight that total milk for human consumption, which does not include imported packaged products for retail sale, rose to an estimated 41 million litres last month compared to 40.8 million litres for the same month in 2022.
Among the key trends identified by the statistics office in the milk statistics for January 2023 is the fact that butter production decreased from 6,700t in January 2022 to 5,600t in January 2023.
The latest figures also provide a breakdown of fat and protein content of the 178.8 million litres that Irish creameries and pasteurisers took in last month.
According to the CSO, fat content rose from 4.41% in January 2022 to 4.47% in January 2023, while protein content also increased from 3.47% to 3.50% over the same period under review.
But the statistics office also noted that skim milk powder production grew slightly from 5,200t in January 2022 to 5,900t in January 2023.
Although the milk statistics for January 2023 highlight that domestic milk intake by creameries and pasteurisers fell last month, other recent research from the CSO showed that the “annual change” in the price consumers paid for whole fresh milk was 30.6% higher in January 2023 compared to the price they would have paid in 2022.