The top 10 sugar producing countries in the world are lucky enough to yield in abundance the item that no household lacks.
All of us experience sugar cravings throughout the day. If you don’t, please share your secret with the rest of us! For us normal folks, however, it’s always a worry that our daily sugar consumption will end up being more than what is healthy. The worry is not unfounded of course. In 2012, the average added sugar intake of people in America amounted to 77 grams per day! We all know excess sugar can have dire effects, like tooth problems, diabetes, and heart diseases but in addition to all these issues, an uncontrolled sugar intake means high chances of obesity, a boat none of us want to be in. In spite of all that, sometimes it’s extremely hard to restrain that sweet tooth. Aah, the struggle.
Bear in mind that these harmful effects are restricted to refined sugars. Natural sugars found in fruits are extremely healthy, nutritious and full of flavor. The refined crystallized sugar is, however, quite detrimental to health when consumed in extreme quantities (the bitter truth).
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Nonetheless, no one can argue that sugar is an absolute necessity. Why else would there be huge corporations like Suedzucker (Germany) and Cosan Industria & Comercio (Brazil) producing large quantities of sugar competing for the label of the largest sugar companies in the world.
More than 70% sugar is made from sugar cane, so the largest producers of sugarcane in the world are more often than not top sugar producing countries as well. But which nations are these exactly? We decided to answer that question and update our previous list of 8 countries that produce the most sugar in the world. Our list is mostly made up of tropical countries where sugarcane can easily be harvested but you will find a few anomalies as well. Unfortunately, no African countries made the cut. Even Illovo Sugar Africa, the biggest sugar producer in Africa, couldn’t help the continent move up the ladder. But it is what it is. Speaking of largest sugar producing countries, you might as well check out 10 Countries that Export the Most Sugar in the World.
So to compile our list of the largest sugar producing countries 2017, we scoured the internet and found various sources like the International Sugar Organization, Bee Culture, and Statista. All of them had the same countries on their lists, but for exact production numbers, we went with Statista as it had the most recent numbers for 2017-2018. Without further ado, let’s see what our research on top sugar producing countries in the world yielded:
10. Australia
Production: 4.7 million metric tons
Australia is a hub of great food, fresh produce, and amazing plants. It is also well known for its desserts, so it being one of the largest producers of sugar doesn’t come as a surprise to me.
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9. Mexico
Production: 6.3 million metric tons
USA’s neighbor is one of the leading names in sugar and comes right ahead of Australia in this race.
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8. Russia
Production: 6.5 million metric tons
The largest country in the world and often quite controversial, Russia comes in at number 8 among the top 10 sugar producing countries in the world.
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7. Pakistan
Production: 7.4 million metric tons
Pakistan consumes most of the sugar it produces considering that it is not among the top exporters of sugar. Nonetheless, the Pakistani province of Punjab has the exact climate that is needed to grow sugarcane.
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6. United States
Production: 8.9 million metric tons
The US is a huge country: many of its states do provide opportunities for agriculture and the country wastes no time in availing them, making it the 6th top producer of sugar in the world.
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5. China
Production: 10.3 million metric tons
China seems to be taking over the world as there is no commodity for which the country is not included in the top producers. Then again, it wouldn’t be able to fulfill the needs of its 1.4 billion people if it slacked in production.
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4. Thailand
Production: 13.7 million metric tons
Thailand exported $2.3 billion dollars worth of sugar in 2016 with most of the demand coming from Indonesia, a country that relies heavily on imports to fulfill its sugar requirements.
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3. European Union
Production: 21.2 million metric tons
Unfortunately, separate sugar production of EU countries was not available anywhere so we decided to consider it as one unit. But it is still a fair comparison considering that the EU’s population of 495 million is still nothing when compared with the likes of India and China, both of whom are also top producers of sugar.
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2. India
Production: 32.5 million metric tons
India, being the ideal blend of industrial and agricultural, has a tropical climate perfect for sugarcane production, which is why gargantuan heaps of sugar are dished out by the country.
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1. Brazil
Production: 38.9 million metric tons
Brazil produces a whopping 39 million metric tons of sugar, a great deal more than everyone else. It is not only number one when it comes to top 10 sugar producing countries in the world, but it also exports the product in huge numbers, with 42.4% of world sugar exports coming from Brazil alone, making it the leading global exporter in the field. It’s also the largest producer of sugarcane in the world.
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