Ice cream consumption in numbers
How much ice cream the EU produces, how much Czechs and Slovaks eat, and why litres and kilograms can’t simply be compared.
How much ice cream is produced in Europe, and how much do we eat? There is more than one answer, because statistics measure different things – production, sales, imports and consumption – sometimes in litres, sometimes in kilograms. Here is an overview of what can be said about ice cream in numbers, with a note on where the figures need to be read with care.
European Union: 3.3 billion litres
According to Eurostat, EU countries produced a total of 3.3 billion litres of ice cream in 2024, 2 % more than in 2023.
| Country | Production 2024 (million litres) |
|---|---|
| Germany | 607 |
| France | 501 |
| Italy | 492 (−7 % compared with 2023) |
| Spain | 378 |
| Poland | 298 |
Source: Eurostat, 2025.
According to Eurostat, production in Czechia rose by 15 % year on year.
Did you know?
Italy, the home of gelato, isn’t the largest ice cream producer in the EU. Germany leads industrial production in litres; Italy’s strength lies mainly in artisan ice cream from small gelaterias.
How much ice cream we eat
The European ice cream manufacturers’ association EuroGlaces gives average consumption in the EU as roughly 6.2 litres per person per year. The source doesn’t say which year the figure refers to, so treat it as indicative.
There are big differences between countries. In 2026 Euronews quoted figures from a German economic institute for 2021:
| Country | Consumption per person (2021) |
|---|---|
| Poland | 16 kg |
| Sweden | 10.87 kg |
| Spain | 9.65 kg |
| Germany | 8 l |
Source: Euronews (2026), based on a German economic institute. The figures are in different units, exactly as given by the source.
Czechia: about 6 litres per person
According to the economist Lukáš Kovanda (Newstream, August 2026), Czech producers sold a total of 65.1 million litres of ice cream in 2025, which is roughly 6 litres per inhabitant.
In Czechia
The figure of 6 litres is the production and sales of domestic producers divided by the population, not exact consumption. Some ice cream is exported, and some is imported into Czechia.
Slovakia: imported ice cream
The Slovak market depends heavily on imports. According to an analysis by the TASR news agency from 2021:
- Slovakia imported more than 2 kg of ice cream per person, roughly 4–4.5 litres,
- 54 % of imports came from Czechia, about 20 % from Poland and about 14 % from Germany,
- domestic production fell from roughly 1.5 litres per person in 2009 to about 40 ml in 2021.
The Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic (ŠÚ SR) reported ice cream consumption of 2.1 kg per inhabitant in 2014 and 2.5 kg in 2015. More recent ŠÚ SR figures weren’t available to us while preparing this article.
In Slovakia
A large share of the packaged ice cream in Slovak shops comes from Czechia. Artisan ice cream made in ice cream shops mostly doesn’t show up in these figures at all.
Italy: the land of gelaterias
For comparison – according to the trade press (Ristorazione Moderna, 2025), a person in Italy eats roughly 2 kg of artisan gelato a year. Turnover from artisan gelato exceeds 3.1 billion euros, and artisan ice cream accounts for about 66 % of ice cream consumption in the country. According to figures quoted in the press (CGIA Mestre), Italy has around 16,000 gelaterias with their own production and roughly 39,000 places where gelato is sold. These figures come from the media, not from official statistics.
Why litres and kilograms can’t be compared
Ice cream isn’t just a frozen mix – a large part of its volume is air, whipped in during freezing. According to the textbook by H. D. Goff (University of Guelph), air can make up as much as half the volume of ice cream. A litre of fluffy industrial ice cream can therefore weigh considerably less than a litre of dense gelato.
- Litres favour fluffy industrial ice creams with lots of air.
- Kilograms better show how much “food” we actually eat.
- Converting between them isn’t accurate without knowing the specific products.
Tip
When comparing packaged ice cream in a shop, look at the weight in grams, not just the volume in millilitres. Two tubs of the same size can contain very different amounts of ice cream.
Summary
- The EU produced 3.3 billion litres of ice cream in 2024 (Eurostat).
- In Czechia, domestic producers sold around 6 litres per person (2025).
- Slovakia imports most of its ice cream, mainly from Czechia (TASR, 2021).
- Italy is built on artisan gelato – about two thirds of consumption.
- Compare figures in litres and kilograms with care – the air makes the difference.
Sources
- Eurostat (2025): EU ice cream production sees uptick of 2% in 2024
- EuroGlaces: Ice cream for health-conscious consumers
- Euronews (2026): Which are the most popular ice cream flavours in Europe
- Newstream (2026), L. Kovanda: Na každého Čecha připadá šest litrů zmrzliny
- TASR/teraz.sk (2021): Zmrzlina sa na Slovensku už takmer nevyrába
- ŠÚ SR: Spotreba potravín v SR
- Ristorazione Moderna: Gelato artigianale, in Italia vendite per 3,1 miliardi di euro
- Il Sole 24 Ore: Ice cream supply chain in Italy is worth 4.9 billion
- H. D. Goff: Ice Cream Technology e-Book, University of Guelph
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