NDA reports less milk imports in 2025

DAIRY imports in 2025 declined by 3 percent as a result of 3.388 million metric tons in liquid milk equivalent (MMT-LME) down from 3.5 MMT-LME in 2024 because of better milk production, according to the National Dairy Authority (NDA).

This is because the country’s milk production surged to a record-high of 43.3 million liters in 2025, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Of all products, skim milk powder (SMP) was the most imported dairy product in 2025, at  almost 40 percent of the total imported volume.

Despite this, SMP imports fell by 2.54 percent to 1.35 MMT-LME from the 1.39 MMT-LME recorded in 2024.

Whole milk powder expanded by 5.54 percent to 142,050 metric tons (MT) LME from 134,590 MT-LME, while buttermilk powder dropped by 4.36 percent to 395,800 MT-LME from 413,840 MT-LME.

Imports of ready-to-drink liquid milk grew by 8.66 percent to 134,680 MT-LME from 123,950 MT-LME in 2024.

Value- wise, total dairy imports in 2025 reached P87.09 billion, up by 8.76 percent from the previous P80.08 billion.

Based on the NDA data, the dairy import unit cost last year stood at $0.45 per liter, higher than the $0.40 per liter in 2024.

A liter of imported milk, in peso, cost P25.7 last year compared to P22.91 in 2024, the agency said.

PSA data showed that national milk output rose by 12.17 percent last year, from 38.6 million liters recorded in 2024. The value of dairy production also went up to P1.67 billion in 2025.

NDA Administrator Marcus Antonius Andaya attributed the increase in milk output to government interventions. 

“The substantial growth in milk production reflects the effectiveness of our dairy development programs, particularly in animal nutrition, herd expansion, and farm management,” he said. 

“These gains were achieved without dairy animal importation for the past 3 years, highlighting improvements in productivity and herd performance at the farm level.”