Potato world
Developed countries
Developing countries
World potato production, 1991-2007
| 1991 | 1993 | 1995 | 1997 | 1999 | 2001 | 2003 | 2005 | 2007 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Countries | million tonnes | ||||||||
| Developed | 201.86 | 219.70 | 195.62 | 192.49 | 182.90 | 184.01 | 177.43 | 176.35 | 171.47 |
| Developing | 93.54 | 112.38 | 119.60 | 141.88 | 148.97 | 160.84 | 167.67 | 176.50 | 182.04 |
| WORLD | 283.56 | 332.09 | 315.22 | 334.39 | 331.88 | 344.86 | 345.12 | 352.86 | 353.52 |
| Source: FAOSTAT | |||||||||
The world potato sector is undergoing major changes. Until the early 1990s, most potatoes were grown and consumed in Europe, North America and countries of the former Soviet Union. Since then, there has been a dramatic increase in potato production and demand in Asia, Africa and Latin America, where output rose from around 30 million tons in the early 1960s to more than 180 million tons in 2007. FAO data shows that in 2005, for the first time, the developing world's potato production exceeded that of the developed world. China is now the biggest potato producer, and almost a third of all potatoes is harvested in China and India.
Top potato producers, 2006-2007
| Quantity (tons), 2007 | Lbs per capita, 2006 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1.  China | 79 366 428 | 1.  Belarus | 1 842.0 |
2.  Russian Fed. | 39 372 362 | 2.  Netherlands | 915.1 |
3.  India | 28 968 746 | 3.  Ukraine | 914.4 |
| 4. Ukraine | 21 056 354 | 4.  Denmark | 641.7 |
5.  USA | 19 460 119 | 5.  Latvia | 630.5 |
6.  Germany | 12 791 773 | 6.  Poland | 598.5 |
| 7. Poland | 12 369 147 | 7.  Belgium | 589.5 |
| 8. Belarus | 9 366 000 | 8.  Lithuania | 575.8 |
| 9. Netherlands | 7 936 642 | 9. Russian Fed. | 570.9 |
10.  France | 6 912 595 | 10.  Kyrgyzstan | 483.6 |
| Source: FAOSTAT | |||
America
quantity
Potato production, by region, 2007
| Harvested area | Quantity | Yield | |
|---|---|---|---|
| acres | tons | tons/acre | |
| Africa | 3 714 336 | 17 977 080 | 4.83 |
| Asia/Oceania | 21 606 452 | 151 218 288 | 6.99 |
| Europe | 18 383 460 | 141 766 408 | 7.71 |
| Latin America | 2 378 216 | 17 621 353 | 7.40 |
| North America | 1 519 770 | 24 941 208 | 16.41 |
| WORLD | 47 598 283 | 353 480 323 | 7.42 |
| Source: FAOSTAT | |||
Asia and Europe are the world's major potato producing regions, accounting for more than 80 percent of world production in 2006. While harvests in Africa and Latin America were far smaller, production was at or near record levels. North America was the clear leader in yields, at 16.5 tons per acre.
America
(per capita)
Potato consumption, by region, 2005
| Population | Consumption | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total food (tons) | lbs per capita | |||
| Africa | 905 937 000 | 14 164 700 | 31.26 | |
| Asia/Oceania | 3 938 469 000 | 112 166 789 | 56.94 | |
| Europe | 739 276 000 | 78 360 004 | 211.97 | |
| Latin America | 561 344 000 | 14 638 694 | 52.13 | |
| North America | 330 608 000 | 21 115 875 | 127.73 | |
| WORLD | 6 475 634 000 | 240 446 063 | 74.25 | |
| Source: FAOSTAT | ||||
Asia consumes almost half of the world's potato supply, but it's huge population means that consumption per person was a modest 57 lbs in 2005. The heartiest potato eaters are Europeans. Per capita consumption is lowest, but increasing, in Africa and Latin America.
Top potato consumers, 2005
| Quantity (tons) | lbs per capita | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. China | 58 292 000 | 1. Belarus | 745.14 |
| 2. Russian Fed. | 22 533 000 | 2. Kyrgyzstan | 335.54 |
| 3. India | 20 120 000 | 3. Russian Fed. | 313.01 |
| 4. USA | 18 076 000 | 4. Ukraine | 312.21 |
5.  United Kingdom | 7 542 000 | 5. Latvia | 300.13 |
| 6. Ukraine | 7 340 000 | 6.  Armenia | 290.48 |
| 7. Germany | 6 746 000 | 7. Lithuania | 288.07 |
| 8. Poland | 5 393 000 | 8. Poland | 281.64 |
| 9. France | 4 276 000 | 9.  Rwanda | 275.20 |
10.  Bangladesh | 4 129 000 | 10.  Portugal | 261.51 |
| Source: FAOSTAT | |||