Top 10 trade partners for EU butter - exports
Photo: iStock-littleny
1988 (in 1,000 tonnes)
- Soviet Union 306.3
- Saudi Arabia 14.8
- Egypt 13.8
- Switzerland 5.6
- Morocco 5.3
- Iran 5.1
- UAE 3.2
- Algeria 2.2
- Lebanon 1.5
- Turkey 1.3
2003 (in 1,000 tonnes)
- Russia 54.7
- Morocco 27.6
- Egypt 17.7
- Saudi Arabia 14.8
- Japan 11.3
- Iran 8.6
- Singapore 7.6
- Turkey 5.0
- Lebanon 4.8
- Uzbekistan 4.5
2015 (in 1,000 tonnes)
- USA 17.4
- Saudi Arabia 14.1
- Egypt 11.2
- Singapore 8.6
- Turkey 8.3
- Morocco 4.8
- UAE 4.5
- Japan 3.6
- Lebanon 3.5
- Uzbekistan 2.9
It is worth noting that, while butter exports to Russia were declining, it was still the major importer of EU butter in 2014 before trade to the country was stopped – in 2015 the figure was zero.
The US has grown into a big market for EU butter, doubling imports from 2014 to 2015.