World onion production

Dry onions

This represents a doubling in world production over the last ten years. 

Biggest producers are China, India and the USA. Between them, these countries produce around half of the world’s dry onions.

Other countries, with annual production figures above 1 million tonnes, are Brazil, Iran, Japan, Pakistan, Turkey and Russia. The current average world yield stands at 17t/ha, but highest average yields of 40- 60t/ha are found in Korea, Japan, Europe and the USA. Leading growers can produce crops that exceed 100t/ha. 

Less than 10% of all onions are exported. Average annual onion consumption equates to approximately 6kg of onions per person across the world. Americans consume nearly 16kg, but the highest consumers are Libyans with an average per capita consumption of around 30kg/year. Between 15-18% of onions are processed for use in food items such as soups, relishes and sauces.

Garlic 

Garlic is the second most widely consumed allium. 14 millions tonnes of garlic are produced worldwide across 1 million ha, at an average yield of 12.3t/ha. Around 70% of all the world’s garlic is produced in China.

As a result of improved health benefits attributed to garlic, consumption has increased dramatically particularly in the Western World in recent years. For example, in the USA, per capita consumption is now around 1.5kg/annum – three times what it was ten years ago.

Leeks 

Leeks are a particularly important crop in European countries, where production is over 10 million tonnes per year. France is the largest producer, and average European yields are 25-30t/ha.

Green onions and shallots 

Grown across 230,000ha in 43 countries, green, salad-type onions represent less than one-tenth of the production of dry onions, at 4.5 million tonnes. Biggest producers are Mexico, South Korea, Japan and China, with average yields of 23t/ha.