Ice cream: Italia leads the way in Europe. Exports are on the verge of overtaking France
In 2025, Italian production rose by 10 per cent compared with 2024, a rate unmatched by any of the five largest EU producers, bringing Italia’s total to 549 million litres
Key points
Italia is the fastest-growing country in the European ice-cream industry. In 2025, Italian production rose by 10 per cent compared with 2024, a rate unmatched by any of the five largest EU producers, bringing Italia’s total to 549 million litres – placing it in second place but closing the gap on Germany, which remained at 608 million litres with growth of just 0.2 per cent.
Growth in the sector
The overall picture for the European Union, as provided by Eurostat, confirms the sector’s positive performance: in 2025, EU production reached 3.44 billion litres, compared with 3.38 billion in 2024, representing an increase of 1.9 per cent.
Belgium and Spain are also in the top five
Behind Germany and Italia comes France (525 million litres, +4 per cent), followed by Spain (457 million, +2 per cent) and Belgium (274 million, +6 per cent). All five countries have increased their production, but the gap between Italia and France has narrowed to just 24 million litres: at the rate of growth recorded this year, overtaking the second-placed country could be within reach as early as 2026.
The export boom: France is just a step away
The upturn in Italia is even more pronounced in the export sector. In 2025, Italia exported 55.2 million kg of ice cream to non-EU countries, accounting for 19 per cent of the EU total, compared with 42.6 million kg in 2024: a jump of over 12 million kg, an increase of around 30 per cent in just one year.
France remains the EU’s leading exporter, with 59.1 million kg (20 per cent of the total), but the gap with Italia has narrowed to less than 4 million kg, compared with the 13 million kg that separated the two countries just a year ago.
