# Parmigiano and Grana Padano: two cheeses, two bets

> Parmigiano Reggiano made 4.19 million wheels in 2025 and sold half abroad. Grana Padano made 6,053,690 and exported about 45%. Two DOPs, two models.

URL: https://myitalia.it/stories/wheels-of-cheese-used-as-collateral
Last updated: 2026-09-11

In 2025 Parmigiano Reggiano made 4.19 million wheels and turned over €3.96 billion at retail, half of its sales abroad, while Grana Padano made 6,053,690 wheels, the largest volume of any Italian cheese DOP, and exported about 45% of them.

## 4.19 million wheels, by province

Parmigiano Reggiano production reached 4.19 million wheels in 2025, up 2.7% on 2024, which comes to about 168,000 tonnes. The consortium also splits the total by province, and the split is uneven.

Parma made 1,391,000 wheels, Reggio Emilia 1,242,000, Modena 918,000, Mantova 524,000 and Bologna 115,000. The two provinces in the name account for well over half of the output, and Bologna, the regional capital, is a small producer.

## €3.96 billion, half of it sold abroad

The consortium puts Parmigiano Reggiano's retail turnover at €3.96 billion for 2025, with exports at 50.5% of sales, or 74,980 tonnes. More than one euro in two spent on this cheese is now spent outside Italy.

That turnover is a consumer price figure, measured at the till, not what the dairies are paid. Half of that value depends on buyers outside Italy.

## Grana Padano: more wheels, less abroad

Grana Padano made 6,053,690 wheels in 2025, up 7.4% on 2024, about 236,180 tonnes, and it is the Italian cheese DOP with the largest volume. The consortium counts 134 dairies, 121 producing companies and 3,376 farms delivering milk.

About 2.76 million of those wheels were exported, roughly 45% of production. Some press reports put the export share above 50%, because they calculate it on wheels that received the brand mark rather than on everything produced, which is a good reason to check the base of any percentage you read.

## Two strategies, one method warning

Parmigiano makes 4.19 million wheels to Grana's 6,053,690, and it leans harder on value and on foreign buyers. Grana Padano makes roughly three wheels for every two of Parmigiano and keeps a larger share at home.

The two export shares are not measured the same way, though. Parmigiano's 50.5% is a share of sales, Grana's 45% is a share of wheels produced. Put side by side they suggest a gap, but the honest comparison is between the direction of the two businesses, not between the decimals.

Both are among the 174 food DOPs Italy had registered in the EU in September 2026, out of 330 food products counting 156 IGPs.

## The collateral story, and what we can't confirm

The consortium figures on this page do not mention cheese held by banks as loan collateral, and we have no verified source for the practice as it stands today. The story is repeated often: dairies pledge ageing wheels to a bank and borrow against them while the cheese matures.

We haven't confirmed which banks still do it, on what terms, or how many wheels they hold. Rather than print a number found in a feature article, this page leaves the figure blank until it can be sourced. If a verified source turns up, the number will go here with its date.

What the consortium numbers do show is scale. Stock worth €3.96 billion a year at retail is the kind of asset a lender would look at, which is why the story sounds plausible even without a source.

## At the cheese counter

The name on the rind is the DOP, and both consortia publish their own production data, each from a single primary source. The figures above are theirs, for 2025, with no independent audit behind them that we could open. Check the year as well: every figure on this page is for 2025.

The individual cheeses are at [Parmigiano Reggiano](/food/parmigiano-reggiano) and [Grana Padano](/food/grana-padano), the region at [food in Emilia-Romagna](/food/in-emilia-romagna), and the EU system at [DOP and IGP](/themes/dop-igp).

## FAQ

### How many wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano are made a year?

4.19 million in 2025, up 2.7% on 2024, about 168,000 tonnes. Parma made 1,391,000 of them, Reggio Emilia 1,242,000, Modena 918,000, Mantova 524,000 and Bologna 115,000. The figures come from the producers' consortium.

### Which sells more abroad, Parmigiano or Grana Padano?

Parmigiano Reggiano sent 50.5% of its 2025 sales abroad, 74,980 tonnes. Grana Padano exported about 2.76 million wheels, roughly 45% of production. One share is measured on sales and the other on wheels produced, so compare them with care.

### Do Italian banks really keep Parmigiano as loan collateral?

It's a widely told story, but none of the consortium figures used here covers it, and we haven't verified which banks do it today, on what terms or how many wheels they hold. That's why this page puts no number on it.

### Is Grana Padano the biggest Italian cheese DOP?

By volume, yes: 6,053,690 wheels in 2025, up 7.4% on 2024, about 236,180 tonnes, from 134 dairies. Parmigiano Reggiano makes fewer wheels but reported €3.96 billion in retail turnover in the same year.

## Sources

| Fact | Source | Confidence | Valid until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nel 2025 sono state prodotte 4,19 milioni di forme di Parmigiano Reggiano DOP (+2,7% sul 2024), pari a circa 168.000 tonnellate. | [Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano](https://www.parmigianoreggiano.com/it/news/dati-economici-2026) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| Il giro d'affari al consumo del Parmigiano Reggiano DOP ha raggiunto 3,96 miliardi di euro nel 2025, con l'export pari al 50,5% delle vendite (74.980 tonnellate). | [Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano](https://www.parmigianoreggiano.com/it/news/dati-economici-2026) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| Nel 2025 il Grana Padano DOP ha toccato 6.053.690 forme prodotte (+7,4% sul 2024), pari a circa 236.180 tonnellate: e la DOP casearia italiana con il maggior volume. | [Consorzio per la Tutela del Formaggio Grana Padano](https://www.granapadano.it/it-it/il-consorzio-di-tutela/i-risultati-produzione-e-consumo/) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| Nel 2025 sono state esportate circa 2,76 milioni di forme di Grana Padano DOP, circa il 45% della produzione. | [Consorzio per la Tutela del Formaggio Grana Padano](https://www.granapadano.it/it-it/il-consorzio-di-tutela/i-risultati-produzione-e-consumo/) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| L'Italia conta 330 prodotti agroalimentari a indicazione geografica registrati nell'UE (settembre 2026): 174 DOP e 156 IGP, esclusi i vini e le bevande spiritose. | [MASAF - Elenco DOP e IGP prodotti agricoli (PDF, agg. 11/06/2026)](https://www.masaf.gov.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeAttachment.php/L/IT/D/1%252Fa%252F2%252FD.e7bdb4ebe6d458c7925a/P/BLOB%3AID%3D15453/E/pdf?mode=download); [Commissione europea - DG AGRI, registro eAmbrosia](https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/eambrosia/geographical-indications-register/) | high | 2027-06-30 |

## Image

https://media.myitalia.it/media/food.parmigiano-stagionatura.1600.jpg
Author: Gilles Desjardins. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parmigiano_Reggiano_-_meules.jpg

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