According to Geostat, the number of cattle in Georgia decreased by 26 thousand or 3%, to 811 thousand in 2024. In addition, the number of cows decreased by more than 5%, to 399 thousand.
The volume of locally produced milk in the country also reduced in 2024. If in 2023 it amounted to 584 thousand tons, in 2024 it decreased by 2.3% and amounted to 570 million liters.
At the same time, imports of dairy products increased by 7% in 2024 and amounted to $ 131 million. Of this, $ 22.5 million fell on dry milk, which amounted to 10,000 tons. With this volume of milk powder, 90 thousand tons of milk can be produced.
In addition to milk powder, $11.5 million of the $131 million imports accounted for liquid milk, which amounted to 13 thousand tons. Cream imports were $5 million, and its volume was 1.5 thousand tons.
Dairy imports were $39.9 million for cream butter, which amounted to 6.3 thousand tons. In order for Georgia to produce this volume of butter itself, local milk production would have to be at least 60-80 thousand tons more.
Yogurt and kefir imports were $13 million, which amounted to 8.6 thousand tons. Cheese and cottage cheese imports were $32.7 million, which amounted to 6.2 thousand tons.
Accordingly, as it stands, Georgia’s dairy product market chain is significantly dependent on imported products.
