According to Statistics Austria, dairy exports rose by 5.2 per cent to €1.02 billion in the first half of 2026, whilst imports fell by 9.5 per cent to €593 million. The trade surplus thus increased by 36 per cent, from €312 million to €424 million. “This shows that the quality and sustainability strategy, as well as the innovations in the domestic dairy industry, are also bearing fruit abroad,” said Petschar.

The most important foreign trade product, with a volume of €512 million in exports and €387 million in imports, is cheese. It accounts for over 50 per cent of both exports and imports. The second most important product in foreign trade is liquid dairy products, with exports of €212 million and imports of €41 million, followed by fermented products, yoghurt and the like, which accounted for €180 million in exports and €48 million in imports. Whey products generated €79 million in exports and €28 million in imports. There were import surpluses for butter, with imports of €52 million and exports of €11 million, and for dried milk products, where exports of €23 million were offset by imports of €36 million. This year’s low butter prices, compared with the previous year, provided significant relief for the trade balance.

Fig.: Vectorportal