Domestic Milk Intake by milk processors and co-ops was estimated at 1.16 billion litres in May 2026, a decrease of 19.1 million litres (-1.6%) when compared with May 2025 but up 56.9 million litres (+5.1%) when compared with the same month in 2024.
Fat content for May 2026 was 4.10%, up from 3.98% in May 2025. Protein content also rose from 3.47% to 3.51% in the 12 months to May 2026.
Butter production in May 2026 was 35,900 tonnes, up from 34,400 tonnes in May 2025.
For the period January to May 2026, Domestic Milk Intake was estimated at 3.55 billion litres, down 25.0 million litres (-0.7%) when compared with the same period in 2025 but up 228.1 million litres (+6.9%) when compared with January to May 2024.
These findings can be attributed to Stephanie Kelleher, Statistician in the Agriculture Section of the CSO.
Up-to-date trends of monthly Domestic Milk Intake for 2024, 2025 and 2026 can be seen in Figure 1.
Table 1 presents analysis of month versus month comparisons of the current year and previous year's Domestic Milk Intake.
| X-axis label | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 148.5 | 162.5 | 169.4 |
| Feb | 351.9 | 327.8 | 347.4 |
| Mar | 757.2 | 821.8 | 826.5 |
| Apr | 952 | 1074.5 | 1037.5 |
| May | 1107.4 | 1183.4 | 1164.3 |
| June | 1031.2 | 1080.5 | |
| Jul | 972.4 | 1004.9 | |
| Aug | 887.2 | 944.8 | |
| Sep | 767.7 | 773.2 | |
| Oct | 673.1 | 706.1 | |
| Nov | 512.3 | 496.1 | |
| Dec | 267.6 | 259.7 |
Table 2 summarises the monthly collection of milk and production of milk products.
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