Food - Drink
Most Of The World's Bell Peppers Come From This Country
By MATTHEW SPINA
Bell peppers are one of the most versatile vegetables you can buy. From the sweeter red or orange peppers to the slightly bitter green variety, bell peppers are used in cooking all over the world, but one singular country is the king of bell pepper production, producing almost half of the world's supply of these veggies as of 2020.
China is the biggest producer of bell peppers in the world, churning out an estimated 16.7 million tons on average, according to Tridge. This number is almost six times the output of the runner-up country, Mexico, though most bell peppers in the United States come from its south-of-the-border neighbor instead of China.
China truly is an agricultural powerhouse, boasting leading numbers for many other fruits and veggies, but bell peppers originated far away from Asia. These peppers hail from South America and were cultivated in Mexico, today's production runner-up, for over 4,000 years, before making their way to the Eastern Hemisphere.