Belgium one of biggest ice cream producers in Europe

Belgium was among the top five ice cream producers and exporters in Europe last year, producing almost 200 million litres of ice cream.

An estimated 23 million kilos were shipped outside the European Union, according to figures published from Eurostat, the European statistics office.

Those figures indicate that the ice cream sector overall has seen gains. Throughout Europe, more than 160 million extra litres of ice cream and sorbet were produced between 2021 and 2022.

In Belgium, the increase was 20 million litres over the previous year, placing the country just behind Spain, Italy, France and Germany, which produced more than 620 million litres between them in 2022.

Germany was the cheapest producer with an average price of €1.50 per litre in 2022, compared to €7 a litre in Austria (the most expensive) and Belgium’s €2.40 a litre.

Belgian ice cream exports represented 9% of the European total, which was 250 million kilos, 20% of which came from France, the leading exporter in 2022.