Most Of The World's Bananas Come From This Country
The world eats a lot of bananas. How many? According to Atlas Big, each year, about 116,781,658 tons, to be exact. That's an awful lot of banana bread. The Mayo Clinic's News Network tells us more than a billion bananas are eaten each year, partly because they're such an inexpensive food. The average American eats about 90 bananas a year or roughly 27 pounds.
Where do those bananas come from? For the most part, not from the U.S. Of the more than 116,000,000 tons of bananas grown worldwide, the U.S. only grows about 3,467 tons, which makes the U.S. the 96th largest producer of bananas. In the U.S., the main producers of bananas are Hawaii and Florida, according to the University of Florida. Most of the bananas consumed in the U.S. are imported from South America. So, with all of this banana consumption globally, which country grows the most today?
India is both the largest producer and consumer of bananas worldwide
Atlas Big marks India's banana production at 30,460,000 tons per year, and Mappr explains most of those bananas are consumed in India. The most widely grown and consumed variety of banana is the Cavendish, though PBS tells us there are more than 1000 varieties of bananas in the world, including the Blue Java or Ice Cream banana, which has blue skin.
After India, China produces the second most bananas in the world, followed by Indonesia. Interestingly, the biggest producer of bananas in South America is Brazil, but 95% of their bananas are consumed within the country, according to Mappr. Though India, China, Indonesia, and Brazil produce more bananas than Ecuador, the small South American country is the biggest exporter of bananas worldwide. If you're looking for a new way to serve bananas, try our recipe for deep-fried bananas. And don't throw the wrapper away! Check out our list of the best uses for banana peels.