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US Beverage Milk Sales Posted Sixth Consecutive Decline In 2016

US beverage milk sales last year totaled 49.7 billion pounds, down 0.7 percent, or 341 million pounds from 2015 and the sixth consecutive decline in beverage milk sales, according to figures released Thursday by USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS).

The agency actually released two sets of beverage milk sales figures. The first includes only data for fluid beverage products. Eggnog is now being included as a beverage milk product to be consistent with how it is classified and reported by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS).

Prior to eggnog not being included as a beverage milk product, beverage milk sales for 2015 were reported to have totaled 49.916 billion pounds. With eggnog included as a beverage milk product, beverage milk sales for 2015 totaled 50.041 billion pounds.

The last time beverage milk sales fell below 50 billion pounds was in 1963, then they totaled 49.809 billion pounds.

Beverage milk sales (including eggnog) had reached a recent high of 55.002 billion pounds in 2010, but have fallen every year since then.

By category, beverage milk sales last year, with comparisons to earlier years, were as follows:

Whole milk: Sales totaled 15.37 billion pounds, up 5.4 percent, or 791 million pounds, from 2015. Whole milk sales have now increased for three straight years after bottoming out at 13.915 billion pounds in 2013. At 15.37 billion pounds, whole milk sales last year were at their highest level since 2008, when they totaled 15.506 billion pounds.

Still, whole milk sales are less than half of what they were several decades ago. In 1975, for example, whole milk sales totaled 36.188 billion pounds.

Sales of whole milk last topped 30 billion pounds in 1981, when they totaled 30.397 billion pounds, and last topped 20 billion pounds in 1992, when they totaled 20.196 billion pounds.

Reduced fat (2%) milk: Sales totaled 16.595 billion pounds, down 1.5 percent, or 253 million pounds, from 2015 and the lowest level of sales since 1985, when sales totaled 16.309 billion pounds. Reduced fat milk sales had reached a record high of 19.851 billion pounds in 1992.

Lowfat (1%) milk: Sales totaled 7.373 billion pounds, down 5.2 percent, or 408 million pounds, from 2015. Lowfat milk sales had increased steadily, with very few declines, from 2.742 billion pounds in 1975 to a record 7.813 billion pounds in 2012. But sales have declined in three of the last four years.

Skim (fat-free) milk: Sales totaled 5.053 billion pounds, down 11.1 percent, or 629 million pounds, from 2015. That was the sixth consecutive decline in skim milk sales, which had reached a recent high of 8.438 billion pounds in 2010.
Skim milk sales had reached a record high of 9.203 billion pounds in 1998. Back in 1975,

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