Turkey collects over 9.8M tons of cow milk in 2020

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey collected over 9.8 million tons of cow milk in 2020, the country's statistical authority announced on Thursday.

Cow milk production increased by 3.5% year-on-year in the January-December period, TurkStat said in a statement.

During the same period, 1.6 million tons of drinking milk was produced, up 9.8% on an annual basis.

Data also showed that cheese production from cow milk was up 10.2% on an annual basis to 739,800 tons.

Cheese production from sheep, goat, buffalo and mixed milk was 27,400 tons, down 2.6% year-on-year.

Turkey also produced 1.1 million tons of yogurt, 587,800 tons of ayran -- a salty yogurt drink -- 35,600 tons of milk powder, 78,600 tons of butter, and 41,500 tons of cream from January to September.

In December, Turkey collected 787,172 tons of cow milk, up 0.8% on a yearly basis.

- Dairy exports total $371M

During 2020, Turkey exported dairy products worth $371 million, down 9.19% on an annual basis, according to the National Milk Council data.

Iraq, Saudi Arabia , the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bangladesh were the top destinations for Turkish dairy products exports in the same period.