Ice cream and frozen desserts in the UK - statistics & facts

Summers are heating up and so is consumer desire for ice cream in the United Kingdom. A minority even go so far as to eat ice cream from a tub on a daily basis. While the volume of ice cream sold was about 320 million kilograms in the United Kingdom, the same as the previous year, it is expected to increase in the coming years. Ice cream industry revenue meanwhile has been steadily increasing year on year.

Ice cream consumption

Per person ice cream consumption in the UK has stayed above average in recent years. 2018/2019 saw a large jump in consumption to 110 grams per week and while it has dipped since then, it still remains elevated. Previous years of the past decade had consumption under 90 grams. The most commonly consumed brand of ice cream was Ben & Jerry's for tubs and blocks and Magnum for bars, cones, sticks, and individual tubs. Several supermarket's private label brands can be found among the top ten ice cream tubs and blocks. The private label ice cream with the widest reach among consumers was Tesco's.

Looking ahead

For the future of the ice cream market in the UK two contradictory trends will have the biggest impacts. Continuing climate change will provide the UK with warmer weather, which is usually associated with increased ice cream consumption. On the other hand, a drive for more healthy food habits is steering consumers away from dairy and sugary foods. Additionally, concerns about animal welfare and the environment drive more and more people to become vegan or cut certain animal products out of their diet, although this doesn't preclude eating non-dairy ice cream.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Jan Conway, Jul 30, 2024

Key insights

Ice cream revenue in the UK
1.33bn GBP
Value of ice cream imported to the UK
428m GBP
Value of ice cream exported from the UK
132m GBP
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Current statistics on this topic

Sales value of frozen dessert products in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2020 (in million GBP), by product

Convenience Food & Frozen Food

Frozen dessert products sales value United Kingdom (UK) 2020

Brands of ice cream on bars, cones, sticks and in individual tubs in the United Kingdom in 2024, by number of consumers (in 1,000s)

Convenience Food & Frozen Food

Brands of ice cream on bars, cones, sticks & in tubs in the United Kingdom

Sales volume of ice cream* manufactured in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2009 to 2023 (in thousand liters)

Milk & Dairy Products

Ice cream: manufacturing sales volume in the United Kingdom (UK) 2009-2023

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