Strawberry Production by Country 2024

The global demand for strawberries continues to climb, with China, the United States, and Egypt filling the top three spots for world strawberry production. In the past year, China produced 3,336,690 tons of strawberries. Data from the FAO report that China has claimed the top spot for strawberry production since 1994. In 2023. Coming in second place, the United States produced 1,055,963 tons of strawberries. Egypt just beat Mexico for third place, each producing 597,029 and 557,514 tons of strawberries respectively. Turkey (Türkiye) follows close behind with 546,525 tons of strawberries this year. Spain, Brazil, Russia, Poland, and Morocco all follow behind, producing between 272,550 to 166,955 tons of strawberries.

Agricultural experts report that farmers are planting more acres of strawberries to fill the growing worldwide demand for the world’s 19th most popular fruit. Although strawberry production in the aforementioned countries continues to be strong, increasingly unpredictable weather patterns and catastrophic climate events have damaged and destroyed strawberry crops, causing demand to exceed supply in some areas. Since strawberries are a delicate crop requiring precise harvest times and immediate refrigeration for shipping, most of the world’s strawberries do not travel far from their place of origin if adequate refrigeration and shipping resources are lacking.

In China, just three provinces account for more than 60 percent of that country’s strawberry production: Hebei, Shandong, and Liaoning. California is responsible for 90 percent of the strawberry crop in the United States, with Florida, Oregon, North Carolina, and Michigan producing the last 10 percent. In Egypt, Ismailia, Beheira, and Qaluobia are the regions that produce the most strawberries.

In the temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere, the majority of strawberries mature in the early summer months. Areas closer to the equator have a longer strawberry growing season, so if adequate shipping and refrigeration infrastructures exist between the fields and the end consumer, strawberries remain on the market even through the winter months. For example, consumers in the northern United States can purchase strawberries from Mexico throughout the winter.

Strawberries, like blackberries, peaches, apricots, and cherries, are members of the rose family, and they continue to grow in popularity around the globe because of their versatility and high nutrient content. Just one serving of eight strawberries contains more vitamin C than one orange. They also contain impressive amounts of other nutrients like potassium, manganese, iron, calcium, magnesium, folate, and other antioxidants. They are also low on the glycemic index, meaning that eating a bowl of strawberries does not generally cause a spike in blood sugar levels for most people.