Documentation of statistics milk and milk products statistics

Data description

The statistics contain monthly and annual data on milk production, number of milk producers, fat and protein contents of producer milk, and the quantities of produced milk products and organic milk. The statistics also contain data on the domestic sales of cheese and the stock of cheese and butter.

Data on milk production by area and the number of farms by municipality, region, and support area is published yearly.

Annual data on milk consumption on farm and on average yield of dairy cow is also published. 

Classification system

Production volumes

The production volumes of milk include special milks. Milk drinks and organic milk are included in the pasteurised full-cream, semi-skimmed, and skimmed milks.

The production volumes of milk include flavoured creams.

Yoghurts and curd milks include flavoured and unflavoured yoghurts and curd milks.

Sour cream products include crème fraiche, sour cream, and smetana.

Other fresh products include, for example, flavoured curd cheese, milk-based dressings, and desserts. Since 2020, puddings, ice creams, and milk and whey-based drinks have been included in this classification.

Fresh cheeses also include cottage cheese, bread cheese and unflavoured curd.

Domestic sales and stock

Domestic sales of aged cheeses include processed cheese. Domestic sales of fresh cheeses do not include cottage cheese and curd cheese. The stock of cheese includes aged cheeses.

Milk production by area

The classification of farms into regions is based on the municipality in which a farm’s administrative centre is located.

Sector coverage

The statistics include all dairies that receive milk from producers. Businesses with smaller scale business operations are not included in the statistics.

Statistical concepts and definitions

The production quantities of milk products include only the production of marketable final products. Intermediate goods used in the production of other milk products are not included in the statistics.

The domestic sales of cheese include domestically produced cheeses. Domestic sales include the sales of milk products for direct consumption, for example to wholesalers, stores, mass caterers, non-dairy industries, and consumers.

The stock of cheese and butter includes end products in stock, meaning that the stock of cheese only includes cheese old enough for sales.

The published annual data on milk consumption on farms includes milk suitable for use for food products. Thus, milk given to livestock does not include antibiotic milk given to calves or milk with too high somatic cell count. Milk consumption on farms includes colostrum.

The average yield of dairy cows in the annual statistics is calculated by dividing the total milk production by the average number of dairy cows. The number or dairy cows on average is the average number of dairy cows on farm on the first day of each month.

Data on milk production by area includes milk supplied to dairies by farms. The number of farms includes farms by which milk has been supplied to dairies during the statistical year.

Statistical unit

The statistics describe the development of milk production, number of milk producers, and the quantities of produced milk products.

Statistical data is collected from dairies and farms. Data on milk production by area is based on the administrative milk register.

Statistical population

All dairies that receive milk from producers are included in data collection. The statistical population of establishments producing milk products is based on the register of approved establishments in the milk industry, maintained by the Finnish Food Authority. Data collection does not include all enterprises with small-scale operations.

Data on on-farm milk consumption is collected from farms with a sample survey every three to four years. The statistical population of the sampling includes all farms that have dairy cows and are registered in the register of agricultural and horticultural enterprises. Registered farms include agricultural and horticultural enterprises, the financial size of which is at least EUR 2,000. The financial size is determined by using the Standard Output method.

Unit of measure 

Milk production, the production of milk products, domestic sales, and the stocks of cheese and butter are given in kilogrammes or litres in the monthly statistics. The number of milk producers is given in numbers.

Information in the annual statistics is given in kilogrammes and in millions of litres.

Reference period

The reference period of the monthly statistics is a month. The reference period of the annual statistics is a calendar year.

Frequency of disseminations

Monthly (preliminary), quarterly, and annually.

The statistics are compiled based on the Act on the Natural Resources Institute Finland (561/2014), the Act on Food and Natural Resource Statistics (562/2014), and the Statistics Act (280/2004). Additionally, the Council Directive 1996/16 contains obligations on statistical surveys of milk and milk products.

More information: Statistics legislation

Confidentiality - policy

Confidentiality is a base principle of statistics and assures the confidential processing of data provided by informants, and the Natural Resources Institute Finland has undertaken to follow this principle. Micro-data is confidential and must never be released for governmental decision-making, investigation, surveillance, legal proceedings, or similar purposes.

Confidentiality - data treatment

The confidentiality of data collected for statistical purposes is guaranteed according to the Statistics Act (280/2004), the Personal Data Act (523/1999), the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999), and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679). Data is protected at all stages of processing using the necessary physical and technological solutions. The staff only has access to information necessary for their duties. Unauthorised people do not have access to spaces in which micro-data is processed. Staff members have signed a non-disclosure agreement when entering duty. Intentional breach of confidentiality will be penalised.

More information: Privacy policy – Statistics

The disseminations of the Natural Resources Institute Finland are published online on weekdays at 9:00.  Data is public after it has been published on the website.

Release calendar

The publication dates are confirmed in autumn together with the action plans. The release calendar of the following year is published for users in the end of the year. The release calendar holds data on the dates of future publications. The calendar also contains direct links to already published statistical publication.

Release calendar access

Statistical releases calendar | Natural Resources Institute Finland

Quality assurance

The Natural Resources Institute Finland follows the Code of Practice and the Quality Assurance Framework of European statistics when compiling statistics. The Code of Practice concern the independence and accountability of statistics authorities, and the quality of processes and published data. The principles are compatible with and supplement the Principles of Official Statistics, agreed upon by the United Nations Statistical Commission. The quality criteria of official statistics in Finland are also compatible with the Code of Practice of European statistics. The principles are also compatible with the European Foundation for Quality Management.

The response material of the statistics is reviewed and edited on a monthly basis. Additionally, the non-response is investigated based on variable background information. 

Quality assessment

The response material of the statistics is reviewed and edited on a monthly basis. Additionally, the non-response is investigated based on variable background information.

Feedback is collected from the users of the statistics in a meeting regarding statistics reforms, and as written comments. Feedback is also received directly. We follow the received feedback and take it into consideration in developing the statistics.

User needs

Users of the statistics include the government, research, agricultural and food industries, and unions of agricultural producers. International users of the data include the Statistical Office of the European Union and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Overall accuracy and reliability

The reliability of the statistics can be considered good because the total milk processing volumes of all enterprises in the data collection cover approximately 98% of the milk volumes processed in all dairy plants.

Data on milk volumes received by dairies can be considered reliable, as data is collected from all dairies receiving milk.

Reliability of data on milk use on farm may be lowered by non-response. Accuracy is also affected by the sample not being the best possible population to represent an activity only a few farms engage in. This applies particularly to the estimation of other milk use.

Data on milk production by region can be considered reliable, as the primary buyers of milk report data on bought milk in the milk register.

Timeliness

Monthly information is usually published on the 25th day of the following month, or the following weekday. Monthly information is preliminary. Annual statistics are published at the end of February, this information is final.

Information on milk production by area is published in March of the following year, this information is final.

Comparability - over time

The time series of the statistics are mostly comparable.

The production volumes of pasteurised and UHT-processed milks were given separately until 2021. Since 2022, data on milk is presented in the following categories (including pasteurised milk, UHT-processed milk, and milk beverages):

• Skimmed milk, 1% and below
• Low-fat milk, over 1% – 3%
• Whole milk, over 3%

In 2013, the information content of the statistics was changed to better take into consideration the statistical confidentiality. Product groups were combined into more comprehensive groups in statistics on production volumes. Data on the production volumes of milk and whey-based drinks, fat mixtures, processed cheese, powdered milk containing fat, fat-free powdered milk, and powdered whey is no longer published in the statistics. Since 2013, the sales volumes of cheese are the only domestic sales data published, and cheese and butter storage volumes at the end of the month are the only storage data published. The monthly time series were changed to correspond with the new classifications in 2007.

Since 2007, the volumes of produced feta cheese have been recorded as fresh cheese, and prior to 2007 as aged cheese. The coverage of statistics on fresh cheeses increased in early 2007, thus, data on the production volumes of fresh cheeses is not fully comparable before and after 2007.

Until 2007, data on direct sales of milk and consumption of milk for the production of home cheese was published separately in the statistics.

Data on milk production by area and the number of farms

Regional data on milk production have been published by region from 2022 onwards. Before that, from 2010 to 2022, data were published by ELY Centre. 

Until 2009, data were published by Employment and Economic Development Centres (EEDC). EED Centres were abolished 31.12.2009 and replaced by Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY Centre) 1.1.2010. The abolishment of EED Centres does not affect the time series of the statistics.

Data by area is not fully comparable due to changes to area classifications. Luokitustiedotteet | Tilastokeskus (stat.fi)

Information on milk production by area was published every quota period when the quota system was used. The quota period was 1.4–31.3, and information is also available from the quota periods of 1997/98–2014/15. 

Coherence - cross domain

The statistics are compiled as EU-harmonised surveys in all current and future EU countries.

Source data

The data collection set is based on the register of approved establishments on the milk sector, maintained by the Finnish Food Authority. The data collection set is revised annually.

Frequency of data collection

Data is collected monthly from dairies and establishments of the milk sector. 

Data on the on-farm use of milk is collected from farms every 3 to 4 years. 

Data collection 

Monthly data is collected from establishments through a web application. Establishments provide monthly data at the 15th day of the following month at latest.

Data on milk production by area is based on the administrative milk register.  The register includes all farms providing milk to dairies. Dairies buying milk from producers report data on milk received per producer monthly to the register.

Data on milk consumption on farms is based on data collected from farmers as a sample survey. This data is collected online. The sample has been stratified into three groups based on geographical location, production line, and farm size. This creates a representative sample of the entire country. The sample survey was conducted previously in 2022, and the statistical population consisted of a little over 5,000 farms with dairy cows. A sample of 1,500 farms was picked from these farms, and data on milk consumption on farm was collected from this sample.

Data validation

If for example an abnormally large observation is spotted during the data compilation process, the authenticity of data is reviewed. In a sample survey a farm is removed from the stratum and a separate stratum is formed from the farm, so that an abnormal observation does not weigh too much in the original stratum.

Data compilation

Data on milk consumption on farm collected with a sample survey is estimated using the normal factor estimating of stratified random sampling and ratio estimation. The response rate of the sample surveys has been approximately 90%.

 If data is not received in time from a dairy, the missing data is imputed using the averages of previous months of said dairy. The correct data will be included in the statistics whenever it is received from the dairy.