| Country | Kg annual per capita imported wheat |
| Algeria | 170.25 |
| Turkey | 122.87 |
| Egypt | 111.27 |
| Philippines | 57.80 |
| Japan | 44.74 |
| Bangladesh | 41.99 |
| Mexico | 38.81 |
| Indonesia | 33.16 |
| Brazil | 31.13 |
| Nigeria | 28.24 |
This list is not comprehensive. These are the ten largest net importers of wheat on a gross tonnage basis. The values listed are the average of the last three calendar years. Note that these numbers are for Kilograms per year.
Countries with smaller populations might be more dependent on a per-capita basis but most statistics are gross imports rather than per-capita and I was lazy.
I was surprised that neither China, India or Pakistan were on this list. They have very large populations and eat substantial amounts of wheat. It must be that they experienced favorable weather over the last few years and were able to grow most of what they consumed.
With the exception of Japan which can afford increasing prices, any one of these countries could be a flashpoint for social unrest as food makes up a large percentage of most family's disposable income.
I think Bayou Renaissance Man had a post saying China kind of had cornered on stored wheat and corn.
ReplyDeleteI have been involved in moving a couple of half-wit SSID couples in the last decade or so . The inevitable Dollar Store trip is made sometimes a half dozen times per day . Whole roomfuls of taters, beans , canned veggies , red onions , macaroni and cheese , etc . Thrown out and land-filled because it was just too hard to move . All of them were fat . Obese ! Gave me a new outlook on who to help .
ReplyDeleteStarvation is on the horizon in those countries. And corn production is down too, so they will have to choose between ethanol or food use for the corn.
ReplyDeleteThe ethanol issue is going to make for a lively discussion in the not too distant future.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised at the amount of wheat imported to the Philippines? Land-mass dictates large scale farming won't work, but culturally I would not expect anyone near there (ahem, Japan) to be a large consumer of wheat.
ReplyDeleteWesternized diet....
Just heard commodities trader say that if Ukraine doesn't get to plant their corn in the next month or so, price per bushel will go up 50%-100%. Add on fertilizer prices and...oh boy.
ReplyDeleteIt is getting interesting.
DeleteUkraine and Russia are also major exporters of vegetable oil.
Apologists for inflation talk about shifting demand from higher cost items to lower cost items but even the low cost alternatives look like they will be experiencing supply shocks.
Could be?
ReplyDeleteWill be.