Russia's export revenue from dairy products exceeds $500 mln in 2025 - Agroexport
MOSCOW. Jan 20 (Interfax) - Russia exported dairy products worth more than $500 million in 2025 according to preliminary data, with supplies going to almost 100 countries worldwide, the head of the Agroexport federal center Ilya Ilyushin said at the third forum of dairy industry leaders in Moscow on Tuesday.
"The dairy industry is not yet a leader in agricultural exports. Dairy products account for 1.2% of total exports of agricultural products. In 2025, exports exceeded $500 million. We do not yet have data on supplies to the EAEU [Eurasian Economic Union] in December, but considering this is the main export direction, we can be confident that the final figure will be over $500 million," he said.
Even without EAEU data for December, exports have already exceeded the level for the entire previous year, Ilyushin said. Compared to the comparable period in 2024, growth was 13%. This includes a 21% increase in supplies of fermented milk products and packaged milk, 13% growth in cheeses and cottage cheese, a 28% rise in condensed milk, 29% growth for ice cream, and a more than twofold rise in whey supplies.
The basis of exports consists of cheeses and cottage cheese (32% of the total), fermented milk products (24%) and ice cream (15%), Ilyushin said. "But considering that significant amounts of world trade are in dry dairy products, their share in our exports will also grow. This is shown by a substantial increase last year at 2.2-fold," he said.
The center estimates the potential of Russian exports of dry dairy products (whey, skimmed milk powder and whole milk powder) by 2030 at over $140 million, 2.5-fold higher than in 2025.
Russian dairy products are supplied to almost 100 countries worldwide, Ilyushin said. The main buyers are post-Soviet countries. Only in shipments of dairy whey, the top five importing countries include China and Egypt. In ice cream exports, Mongolia holds third place. In this regard, one of the main tasks is the geographical diversification of dairy exports and the development of new markets, he said.
According to Agroexport's estimate, exports of dairy products may exceed $730 million in 2030, which is almost one and a half times higher than the 2025 level. Among promising directions, besides traditional markets, are China, Algeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Southeast Asian countries.
The growth in export potential is due to an increase in the raw material base. The production of commercial milk in Russia increased 3.9% in January-November 2025. Production has been growing at approximately this rate in all recent years, Ilyushin said.
