How much is a gallon of milk? In 2024, the average retail price of whole fortified milk in the United States was 4.1 U.S. dollars, which was a decrease from the previous year. Milk production Dairy farming is an agricultural business which is engaged in the long-term milk production within the dairy industry. Dairy farming is a large contributor to the overall economy in many states. California, Wisconsin, and Idaho had the highest milk supply in 2022. Continuing the trend of each year breaking the record for milk production, an estimated 228.3 billion pounds of milk were produced in 2023. Milk consumption Since 2011, there has been a steady decline in milk consumption in the United States, with just 65.2 liters consumed per capita compared to 78.3 in 2011. This could be explained by consumers’ increasing shift towards plant-based dairy alternatives. In 2019, 35 percent of consumers consumed soy products at least once a week, up from 24 percent in 2010.

Fresh whole milk, fortified, sold per gallon regardless of packaging type. Includes organic and non-organic milk."

Milk decreased 0.06 USD/CWT or 0.32% since the beginning of 2025, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks the benchmark market for this commodity. Milk - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on March of 2025.

Fresh, low fat or light milk sold, per half-gallon carton. Includes organic and non-organic milk."

This statistic shows projections for milk prices in the United States from 2019 to 2028. In 2028, it is expected that the price for milk in the U.S. will be 19.89 U.S. dollars per cwt.

The average retail price for homogenized milk hit an all-time high with 6.53 Canadian dollars per four liters in February 2022 in Canada.

What is homogenized milk?

Homogenization is the process of breaking down the fat molecules within milk to ensure that they do not separate. This prevents the fat molecules rising to the top and creating a layer of cream, therefore creating a more consistent product with a longer shelf life. Homogenization generally occurs after pasteurization, which is a heating process to eliminate bacteria.

The Canadian milk market

The volume of milk produced in Canada has steadily risen year-on-year to reach approximately 93.24 million hectoliters in 2020. Quebec and Ontario are the provincial frontrunners in milk production, both producing over 30 million hectoliters in that year. Quebec and Ontario are also home to the largest number of certified organic milk producers in Canada.

Monthly average retail prices for selected products, for Canada and provinces. Prices are presented for the current month and the previous four months. Prices are based on transaction data from Canadian retailers, and are presented in Canadian current dollars.

The average for 2021 based on 165 countries was 120.42 index points. The highest value was in Aruba: 240.01 index points and the lowest value was in Belarus: 62.14 index points. The indicator is available from 2017 to 2021. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The United States produced about 227.2 billion pounds of milk for human consumption in 2024. In 2000, this figure amounted to around 167.4 billion pounds. The volume of cow milk produced worldwide has risen steadily over the last several years. U.S. milk market While milk production has seen an increase over the last several years, milk retail sales have been dropping. The retail price of milk has been fluctuating for the past several years and peaked in 2022 at 4.21 U.S. dollars per gallon. Leading U.S. milk brands Among the dairy brands in the U.S., private label milk has a higher level of sales than any name brand whole milk. Among name brands of whole milk, Hood generated the most dollar sales, at over 190 million U.S. dollars in 2022. In the flavored milk category, the leading name brand was TruMoo, which sold nearly 91 million units in 2018. However, private label flavored milk sold many more units than even the leading name brand.

This timeline shows the total milk retail sales in the United States from 2005 to 2022. In 2021, total organic and conventional fluid milk sales amounted to about 40.43 billion pounds.

In January 2025, the average price for a kilogram of milk in Germany was around 54.6 euro cents. This refers to the price dairies purchasing the milk paid to dairy farmers. However, dairies pay individual prices to farmers depending on the business structure, region and time of year, which can result in differences in the milk price. Milk in agriculture is usually invoiced in kilograms, but the food trade usually sells milk in liters. One liter of milk corresponds to around 1.03 kilograms.

In 2021, the retail price of one liter of milk in Canada was on average 1.68 Canadian dollars, with some regional differences. For instance, in Quebec, one liter of milk cost 2.06 Canadian dollars on average, while it cost 1.56 Canadian dollars in Ontario.

Milk production in Canada

Canada featured among the leading producers of cow milk worldwide, with a production volume exceeding 10 million metric tons in 2021. Although this production volume pales in comparison to that of the EU-27 or the United States, Canada’s dairy farming industry is among the most important agricultural sectors in the country. Dairy farms in Canada were home to more than 990,000 milk cows in 2021. In addition to being the provinces with the largest number of milk cows in the country, Quebec and Ontario also produced the largest volume of milk in Canada in 2020, at around 33 million and 31 million hectoliters, respectively.

Milk consumption in Canada

Since 2004, consumption of milk per capita in Canada has been steadily declining, with a significant decrease of more than twenty liters per capita between 2004 and 2019. This can be attributed to the emergence of new consumption habits and the rise of non-dairy substitutes for milk such as soy milk, almond milk, coconut milk and others, which appeal primarily but not exclusively to people following plant-based diets. It was estimated that the milk substitute market in Canada would generate approximately 367 million U.S. dollars in revenues in 2022.

The price of pasteurized milk in Russia gradually increased between January 2021 and October 2024. From November 2023 onwards, figures have generally followed a upward trend, measuring at 84.8 Russian rubles per liter as of October 2024.

The average retail price for fresh cow's milk in Japan stood at almost 205 Japanese yen per liter in 2022. The retail price of fresh milk rose steadily in the last decade, remaining above 200 yen per liter in recent years.

This statistic shows the average retail price for 4 liters of partly skimmed milk in Canada from January 2016 to February 2022. The retail price stayed fairly constant for most of 2021, at around 5.5 Canadian dollars, but jumped up to 5.9 Canadian dollars in February 2022.

In the 52 weeks ending on November 30, 2024, the average price of one liter of semi-skimmed milk was 79 pence per liter in the UK. Plant-based alternatives cost over 1.4 British pounds.

This statistic shows the ten U.S. states with the highest amount of milk production from 2020 to 2023. California, is the leading producer, where over four million pounds of milk were produced in 2023. Milk productionDairy farming is an agricultural business which is engaged in the long-term milk production within the dairy industry. It is a large contributor to the overall economy in many states. California, Wisconsin, New York, Idaho and Pennsylvania had the highest milk supply.The number of U.S. dairy farms has sharply decreased in the last decades, while dairy operations have ever-larger numbers of cows concentrated on a single farm. These extensive dairy farming conditions with a large herd size and a high milk output are seen as a profitable way for the milk industry in order to provide milk at relatively low cost for the consumer. Due to its high milk volume, the main cow used for milk production is the Holstein-Friesian. However, with this intensification of milking cows there comes a corresponding concentration of manure production which causes problems and challenges for the environment such as the risk of elevated nitrogen levels or contaminated ground water.Due to these environmental impacts, many dairy operations in Wisconsin are now facing opposition regarding plans to expand their dairy herds.