Milk prices have fallen in the main EU exporting countries, including Lithuania

Europe's raw milk sector is facing a significant price slump. Major milk buyers such as „Arla“ and „Muller“ are now paying farmers around 24% less than a year ago, according to the BBC.

According to the European Union's (EU) Milk Market Observatory (MMO), milk farm gate prices did not fall in all Community countries in December 2025, but the most significant drops were recorded in the main milk exporting countries of Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Lithuania and the Netherlands. In these countries, farm gate prices fell by around a quarter over the year.

According to the IOM, in December last year, the average EU farm-gate milk price was 48 cents per kilo, down 12% on a year earlier. Preliminary data show that the price decline continued in January.

Analysts said that since September 2025, European markets have seen a consistent decline in the prices of commodity dairy products, in particular butter and skimmed milk flour. Rabobank points out that this trend continued throughout the last quarter of last year, when commodity prices for dairy products fell sharply due to oversupply and sluggish demand in major export markets.

From September 2025 to the end of the year, the price of raw milk fell the most in the Netherlands (22%), Belgium (20%) and Denmark (16%). In Lithuania and Germany, prices fell by 14% each, and in Ireland by 10%.

The imbalance between supply and demand is causing stocks to build up in EU warehouses and forcing processors to cut their raw milk buying prices. The pressure is most acute for exporting countries, whose performance is directly linked to fluctuations in global markets.