Annual Cheese Consumption, by Country

By Culture Magazine, Laurel Miller, Thalassa Skinner, Ming Tsai

Part of Cheese For Dummies Cheat Sheet

You may think that the French, who produce more than 1,000 varieties of cheese, eat the most cheese per capita. Nope. The Greeks actually eat the most cheese, consuming an average of 68 pounds per person annually. (The Mediterranean diet is purportedly one of the healthiest, right?) The following table outlines the average annual cheese consumption for several countries. (The numbers are rounded up, based upon conversion from kilos.)

Annual Per Capital Cheese Consumption

Country Amount Per Person Greece 68 lbs France 53 lbs Malta 48 lbs Germany 46 lbs The Netherlands 46 lbs Romania 46 lbs Italy 44 lbs Finland 44 lbs Poland 41 lbs Sweden 40 lbs United States 31 lbs

Information based on 2009 statistics by Eurostat, the Canadian Dairy Information Centre (CDIC) and the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.