Viet Nam Clenches Victory Over Malaysia In Pepper Consumption

Pepper production goes hand-in-hand with the production of spices, as pepper is the main component in spice mixes. It is mainly customers' taste and local cuisine peculiarity that have a strong influence on volumes of pepper consumption in different countries. Viet Nam is famous for its spicy and flavorful cuisine, so it is no wonder that Viet Nam became the world's leading pepper consuming country, with nearly 47.1 million tonnes of pepper consumed in 2013.

Production of pepper over the last few years has shown mixed dynamics. The slight decrease in 2010 was followed by stagnation in 2011-2012. In 2013, global production in physical terms increased by 5%, reaching 473 thousand tonnes, which is the highest level of production of pepper.

Global growth in pepper consumption is expected to slow to 9,0% (currently +12,1%), amidst sluggish domestic demand. In the past, pepper consumption was fueled by rising purchasing power, but this engine of growth is now under pressure from the current economic slowdown.

According to OECD, the global population was 7,162 thousand persons. With nearly 47.1 million tonnes of pepper consumed in 2013, Viet Nam became the world's leading pepper consuming country. The highest level of pepper consumption was registered in Malaysia (60 g/year) and Sri Lanka (37 g/year). Guatemala had the lowest volumes of pepper consumption - 0.9 g/year.

The countries with the largest quantity of pepper production in 2013 were Viet Nam (163 thousand tonnes), Indonesia (88.7 thousand tonnes), India (53.0 thousand tonnes) and Brazil (42.3 thousand tonnes), which together accounted for 73% of the total quantity of production of pepper. In Viet Nam, production of pepper increased by 5.8% annually from 2007-2013. The remaining countries showed mixed dynamics in physical terms: Indonesia (+1.6%), India (-4.3%), Brazil (-9.6%), China (+3.1%) and Sri Lanka (+5.5%).

In 2013, the USA (58 thousand tonnes), Germany (30 thousand tonnes), Singapore (18 thousand tonnes) and India (16 thousand tonnes) were the main destinations of pepper imports and together made up 44.8% of total imports, in physical terms.

Source: World: Pepper - Market Report. Analysis And Forecast To 2020