10 World’s Largest Country Producers of Pistachios

 

10 World’s Largest Country Producers of Pistachios- According to the FAO Statistical Corporate Database (FAOSTAT), in 2024, there were 10 world’s largest Country Producers of pistachios in 2022. These countries have a huge production of pistachios. Commonly, pistachios can be eaten or added to a variety of dishes. Nutritionally, this nut, the pistachios, has some good nutritional content. This contains protein, fibre, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, vitamin C, vitamin B-6, and vitamin A. The ratio or amount of the content can be seen in the picture below.

Taxonomically, pistachios can be classified into the following kingdoms: Plantae, Phylum: Tracheophyta, Subphylum: Spermatophytina, Class: Magnoliopsida, Superorder: Rosanae, Order: Sapindales, Family: Anacardiaceae, Genus: Pistacia L., Species: Pistacia vera L. Due to its classification as a member of the Anacardiaceae family, pistachio still has a close relationship with some plants, including cashew, mango, poison ivy, poison oak, sumac, smoke tree, and marula.

 

The World’s Harvested Areas and World’s Production of Pistachios From 1970 to 2022

 

Years	World's Area Harvested of Pistachios	World's Production of Pistachios
	(Ha)	(Tons)
1970	58,768	47,584
1971	48,577	44,342
1972	65,960	77,078
1973	72,707	56,029
1974	75,394	87,273
1975	78,396	85,195
1976	89,712	71,636
1977	90,084	97,211
1978	132,189	105,544
1979	153,690	64,824
1980	173,774	76,029
1981	183,270	188,235
1982	165,058	161,578
1983	176,645	193,321
1984	183,252	181,408
1985	191,549	191,637
1986	197,151	203,822
1987	208,222	202,986
1988	224,961	228,960
1989	242,286	235,072
1990	275,724	273,579
1991	343,605	330,033
1992	359,292	348,270
1993	381,505	397,809
1994	385,621	345,407
1995	397,449	394,980
1996	415,345	436,237
1997	412,277	342,587
1998	425,443	514,409
1999	436,177	303,240
2000	448,340	549,798
2001	458,988	295,602
2002	469,911	518,279
2003	495,613	472,593
2004	520,421	442,412
2005	544,047	515,347
2006	534,549	664,674
2007	579,700	749,468
2008	498,636	525,192
2009	509,079	553,822
2010	520,389	718,150
2011	536,915	624,148
2012	557,585	759,449
2013	577,541	679,229
2014	619,709	887,491
2015	628,721	861,775
2016	862,816	1,315,302
2017	756,974	1,163,981
2018	740,636	985,294
2019	1,049,987	891,093
2020	884,960	1,129,956
2021	1,189,868	1,214,743
2022	1,217,974	1,026,803
Source: FAOSTAT, 2024

 

According to the FAO Statistical Corporate Database (FAOSTAT), the agronomic conditions of pistachios are stable. It can be tracked using data from 1970 to 2022. In the year 1970, the world's harvested area of pistachios was 58,768 hectares (Ha), and the world's production was around 47,584 tons. After more than 50 years, especially in 2022, the world's harvested areas gradually increased 1,217,974 hectares (ha) and the world's production had increased to 1,026,803 tons.

 

The World’s Statistical Production of Pistachios in 2022 Based on Continent

  

Continent	World's Production of Pistachios in 2022	World's Production Share of Pistachios
	(Tons)	(%)
Africa	9,710	0.90%
Americas	400,178	39%
Asia	615,389	59.90%
Oceania	1,526	0.10%
Source : FAOSTAT, 2024

 

In continental statistics, the production of pistachios in 2022 had spread out in several regions. The Americas continent still became the largest area with output of Pistachios nut reaching 400 thousand tons and Asia in second with production was around 381 thousand tons. Meanwhile, Africa and Oceania have small production with output of pistachio nuts around 9.7 thousand tons and 1.5 thousand tons, respectively. Specifically, based on the country's area, there were some largest producers of Pistachios. Here is the rank of 10 World’s Largest Country Producers of Pistachios in 2022.

 

The Rank of 10 World’s Largest Country Producers of Pistachios in 2022

 

Ranks	Countries	Production of Pistachios in 2022
		(Tons)
1	United States of America	400,070
2	Iran (Islamic Republic of)	241,669
3	Türkiye	239,289
4	China, mainland	81,700
5	Syrian Arab Republic	45,467
6	Madagascar	6,469
7	Tunisia	3,190
8	Afghanistan	2,800
9	Iraq	2,217
10	Australia	1,526
Source: FAOSTAT, 2024

 

 

 

The Brief Description of 10 World’s Largest Country Producers of Pistachios in 2022

 

 

1. United States of America

The United States of America still became the largest country producer of Pistachios in 2022. According to FAO Statistical Corporate Database (FAOSTAT), the production of Pistachios from the USA reached 400,070 tons in 2022. Geographically, in the USA, California still became the main cultivation area followed by Arizona and New Mexico. In the USA, there are some cultivars of Pistachios. Some of them are ‘Kerman’ and ‘Golden Hills’ (Badenes et al., 2012).

 

 

2. Iran (Islamic Republic of)   

Iran also be one of the biggest country producers of Pistachios in 2022. Statistically, according to the FAO Statistical Corporate Database, the production of Pistachios in Iran reached 241,669 tons. In Iran, some cultivation areas of Pistachios can be mostly found in Kerman province contributing and Rafsanjan (Razavi, 2005). Genetically, some of the pistachios cultivars in Iran are kbary’, ‘Ahmad Aghaii’, ‘Daneshmandi’, ‘Kalle Ghoochi 1’, ‘Kalle Ghoochi 2’, ‘Garmeh’, ‘Ohadi 1’, ‘Ohadi 2’, ‘Sefid’, ‘Momtaz (Davaryneyjad et al, 2012).

 

 

3. Türkiye     

Turkiye is the 3^rd world’s biggest country producer of Pistachios in 2022. According to FAO Statistical Corporate Database (FAOSTAT), the production of Pistachios from Turkey reached 239,289 tons. Geographically, in Türkiye, the cultivation areas of Pistachios were in Sanliurfa, Gaziantep, K. Maras, Adiyaman and Siirt. Meanwhile, the biggest orchard of Pistachios in Turkiye is located in Ceylanpinar State Farm with a size of around 3.5 thousand ha (Kaska, 1994). 

 

 

4. China, mainland    

China was the 4^th largest country producer of Pistachios in 2022. According to FAO Statistical Corporate Database (FAOSTAT), the production of Pistachios from China reached 81,700 tons. In China, some Pistachios can be found in Xinjiang province.

 

 

5. Syrian Arab Republic       

The Syrian Arab Republic has huge production of Pistachios. Statistically, the production of Pistachios from the Syrian Arab Republic reached 45,467 tons. Genetically, some of varieties of pistachios in Syria were Ashoury, Red Jalab, Entaby 2, Red Oleimy, Batoury, Nab Al-Djamal, White Ashoury, Ajamy and Sen Al feel (Basha, 2012).

 

 

6. Madagascar

Madagascar had become the 6th world’s largest country producer of Pistachios in 2022. According to the FAO Statistical Corporate Database in 2021, the production of Pistachios from Madagascar reached 6,469 tons.

 

 

7. Tunisia     

Tunisia has huge production of Pistachios in 2022. Statistically, the production of Pistachios from Tunisia reached 3,190 tons.  Geographically, in Tunisia, some cultivation areas of Pistachios are in Sfax Region, Sidi Bouzid, and other regions in Tunisia (Ghrab et al., 2010).

 

 

8. Afghanistan

Afghanistan is the 8^th world largest country producer of Pistachios in 2022. According to FAO Statistical Database (FAOSTAT) in 2024, the world’s production of Pistachios from Afghanistan reached 2,217 tons. In Afghanistan, some pistachios cultivation can be found in Badghis, Baghlan, Samangan, Herat, Takhar (Said, 2008).

 

 

9. Iraq

In the year of 2022, Iraq has produced 2,217 tons of Pistachios in 2022. Geographically, some of the pistachios in Iraq can be found in Al Anbar Governorate, or Anbar Province (Khalaf & Latif, 2021).

 

 

10. Australia  

Australia is the 10^th world’s largest country producer pistachios in 2022. Statistically, in 2022, Australis produced 1,526 tons of pistachios in 2022. In Australia, most cultivation areas of Pistachios can be found in the river Murray valley and small numbers of growers located in central New South Wales and Western Australia. Genetically, one of the cultivars of Pistachios in Australia was Sirora.

 

 

The Summary of 10 World’s Largest Country Producers of Pistachios in 2022

The Histogram of 10 World’s Largest Country Producers of Pistachios in 2022

 

Bibliography of 10 World’s Largest Country Producers of Pistachios in 2022

 

Food Data Central.2024. Nuts, Pistachios. Accessed via https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/170184/nutrients  on November 4th, 2024. U.S. Department of Agriculture.

FAOSTAT. 2023. Pistachios 2021. Accessed via https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL/visualize on November 4th, 2023.

Kaska, N. (1994). Pistachio nuts growing in Turkey. In I International Symposium on Pistachio 419 (pp. 161-164).

Badenes, M. L., & Byrne, D. H. (Eds.). (2012). Fruit breeding (Vol. 8). Springer Science & Business Media.

Razavi, S. H. (2005). Pistachio production, Iran vs. the world. In IV International Symposium on Pistachios and Almonds 726 (pp. 689-694).

Davarynejad, G., Stefanovits-Banyai, É., & Nagy, P.T. (2012). Investigation of antioxidant capacity and some bioactive compounds of iranian pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) cultivars. Notulae Scientia Biologicae, 4(4), 62-66.

Basha, A.I, Padulosi, S., Chabane, K., Hadj-Hassan, A., Dulloo, E., Pagnotta, M. A., & Porceddu, E. (2007). Genetic diversity of Syrian pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) varieties evaluated by AFLP markers. Genetic resources and crop evolution, 54, 1807-1816.

Ghrab, M., Zribi, F., Chelli-Chaabouni, A., Gouta, H. and Ben Mimoun, M., 2010. Genetic diversity of pistachio in Tunisia. Options Méditerranéennes, Série A, 94, pp.221-228.

Said, A. (2008). Following Pistachio Footprints in AFGHANISTAN. INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR HORTICULTURAL SCIENCE.

Khalaf, M. A., & Latif, E. A. (2021, May). Marketing, Technical and Economic Feasibility of Pistachio Forest Cultivation in Al-Anbar Governorate. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 761, No. 1, p. 012129). IOP Publishing.