A new statistical methodology for evaluating the diffusion of milk in the Spanish Population: Consumer groups and milk consumption, 1865–1981

This article analyses the diffusion of milk consumption in Spain between 1865 and 1980, and uses a new statistical approach to estimate consumer groups and their milk consumption. This new methodology shows that these variables increased at different speeds chronologically and geographically. Two main phases can be distinguished in terms of the diffusion of milk consumption. The first phase, between the mid-19th century and the 1950s, was characterised by concentrated consumption in producer regions and big cities and the persistence of stark differences between regions. The second, between the 1950s and the 1980s, was chiefly characterised by an increase in the total number of consumers and the disappearance of these regional differences.