Milk Consumption Patterns Worldwide – An Econometric Approach

Overconsumption and under-consumption of milk and dairy products have environmental, nutritional and economic impacts on people in different societies. The goal of this study is to examine that, which set of factors can explain per-capita milk consumption worldwide. FAO data related to the year 2013 (the most recent available and official data) for per-capita milk supply was considered as the dependent variable. Per-capita GDP (PPP, current international dollars), Human Development Index, and Literacy rate were examined as independent variables for 164 countries grouped in 5 continents and 20 sub-regional areas. Dependent variable had a relatively strong correlation with all independent variables. An SPSS Automatic Linear Modeling procedure revealed that the variability of milk supply was best described by geographic diversity, rather than income or literacy. The model also suggested that 164 countries could be categorized into 7 classes, indicating similar milk consumption growth. Furthermore, building a nonlinear model by employing Eviews 10, showed that milk consumption exponentially increases when HDI grows. however, each given country follows its own growth curve, based on the area in which it is present.

Keywords:

Milk , Dairy products , Food consumption patterns , Food choice , Policy , Iran