Vegetables and melons · FAOSTAT 2024

Spring onions and shallots production by country

World production of spring onions and shallots reached 5.6 million t in 2024, up 16% over ten years. The largest producers were China (16.3%), Mali (15.2%), Angola (11.0%), together 42% of the world total. It was harvested from 250,443 ha, an average yield of 22.3 t/ha.

Onion prices today

World production, 2024: 5.6 million t
10-year change: +16%
Producing countries: 48
World average yield: 22.27 t/ha

World production, 1961–2024 (tonnes)

Map of spring onions and shallots production, 2024

under 0.1%0.1–1%1–5%5–15%15% or moreno data
Share of the world total. Small island states are not drawn at this scale.

Producers ranked, 2024

#	Country	Tonnes	Share	10-year change	Yield, t/ha
1	China E	908,012	16.3%	+8.0%	38.6
2	Mali	847,300	15.2%	+472%	26.1
3	Angola	612,391	11.0%	+36%	18.1
4	Japan I	488,887	8.77%	−10%	20.7
5	South Korea I	449,753	8.06%	−2.8%	27.2
6	Morocco	367,061	6.58%	+548%	28.0
7	Tunisia E	287,167	5.15%	+7.6%	27.6
8	New Zealand I	267,459	4.80%	+0.3%	45.2
9	Nigeria E	244,348	4.38%	+4.0%	16.9
10	Thailand	178,728	3.20%	+36%	18.3
11	Turkey	108,184	1.94%	−27%	17.4
12	Ecuador I	98,847	1.77%	+4.6%	8.9
13	Mexico E	97,708	1.75%	−2.0%	11.6
14	Taiwan I	89,590	1.61%	−15%	22.1
15	North Korea I	88,540	1.59%	−1.4%	12.1
16	Iraq	61,547	1.10%	−70%	10.9
17	Venezuela I	57,599	1.03%	+8.6%	20.3
18	Libya I	55,811	1.00%	−5.4%	30.9
19	Albania	49,981	0.90%	+87%	21.4
20	Ethiopia E	38,164	0.68%	+8.9%	12.5
21	Syria	29,095	0.52%	−4.8%	10.4
22	Ukraine E	25,700	0.46%	−19%	12.2
23	Norway	25,300	0.45%	−9.9%	25.3
24	Burkina Faso I	17,770	0.32%	−0.0%	16.7
25	United Kingdom	15,638	0.28%	+14%	10.1
26	United Arab Emirates I	11,587	0.21%	−56%	26.5
27	Paraguay I	11,330	0.20%	+89%	9.7
28	Côte d'Ivoire E	8,330	0.15%	+5.8%	9.4
29	Jamaica	7,010	0.13%	−44%	13.9
30	Jordan	5,608	0.10%	+10%	25.4
31	Hong Kong E	4,755	0.09%	−1.6%	33.3
32	Switzerland	3,321	0.06%	+36%	13.3
33	North Macedonia E	1,964	0.04%	−7.1%	22.8
34	Comoros I	1,633	0.03%	+27%	2.6
35	Belize	1,447	0.03%	+67%	17.9
36	Israel	1,414	0.03%	−58%	4.7
37	Kuwait	943	0.02%	—	15.5
38	Bahamas E	678	0.01%	+8.5%	7.9
39	Puerto Rico I	529	0.01%	−58%	21.2
40	Madagascar I	397	0.01%	+6.4%	2.1
41	Algeria E	358	0.01%	+6.9%	10.8
42	Qatar I	344	0.01%	—	12.3
43	Djibouti I	182	0.00%	+9.0%	22.8
44	Bhutan	157	0.00%	—	2.4
45	Brunei E	103	0.00%	+8.4%	8.6
46	Costa Rica E	96	0.00%	+5.5%	6.4
47	Vanuatu E	80	0.00%	—	40.0
48	French Polynesia I	49	0.00%	+17%	4.1

E = estimated by FAO, I = imputed by FAO, X = from an external organisation; other figures are official.

How concentrated is production?

The largest producer, China, accounts for 16.3% of the world total in 2024; the five largest for 59.3% and the ten largest for 83.4%.

Year	Top 5 share	Top 10 share	Countries with data
2000	53.1%	76.1%	49
2005	51.3%	75.1%	52
2010	50.7%	74.8%	53
2015	55.1%	76.3%	54
2020	60.2%	81.5%	47
2024	59.3%	83.4%	48

By continent, 2024

Continent	Production	Share of world	Share in 2014	10-year change	Countries
Africa	2.5 million t	44.5%	26.6%	+94%	13
Asia	2.4 million t	43.5%	54.1%	−6.7%	17
Oceania	267,588 t	4.8%	5.6%	+0.3%	3
South America	167,776 t	3.0%	3.2%	+9.3%	3
Europe	121,904 t	2.2%	8.1%	−69%	6
North and Central America	107,468 t	1.9%	2.4%	−6.5%	6

Sums of country figures; the world total also includes countries without a continent assignment, so shares may not add up to 100%.

Fastest growing and declining producers, 2014–2024

Countries with at least 0.5% of world production in 2024, change over ten years.

Growing

Morocco	367,061 t	+548%
Mali	847,300 t	+472%
Albania	49,981 t	+87%
Thailand	178,728 t	+36%
Angola	612,391 t	+36%

Declining

Iraq	61,547 t	−70%
Turkey	108,184 t	−27%
Taiwan	89,590 t	−15%
Japan	488,887 t	−10%
Libya	55,811 t	−5.4%

Area harvested and yields

The world average yield was 22.27 t/ha in 2024.

Production, 2014–2024: +16%
Harvested area: +13%
Average yield: +3.1%
World area, 2024: 250,443 ha

Most of the increase came from a larger harvested area rather than higher yields.

World area harvested, 1961–2024 (hectares)

Highest yields

Country	Yield, t/ha	vs world
New Zealand	45.2	+103%
China	38.6	+73%
Libya	30.9	+39%
Morocco	28.0	+26%
Tunisia	27.6	+24%

Lowest yields

Country	Yield, t/ha	vs world
Ecuador	8.9	−60%
Syria	10.4	−53%
Iraq	10.9	−51%
Mexico	11.6	−48%
North Korea	12.1	−46%

Among countries with at least 0.5% of world production. Yield = production ÷ harvested area; it depends on climate, varieties, irrigation and how the crop is counted, so it is not a measure of efficiency alone.

Long-term trend, 1961–2024

Average growth per year, 1961–2024: +3.0%
Average growth per year, last 10 years: +1.5%
Record year: 2024 5.6 million t
Largest yearly fall: 1987 −5.9%

Decade	Average per year	vs previous decade
1960s (1961–1969)	1.1 million t	—
1970s	1.5 million t	+27%
1980s	2.2 million t	+52%
1990s	3.1 million t	+39%
2000s	4.3 million t	+40%
2010s	5.0 million t	+15%
2020s (2020–2024)	5.3 million t	+6.5%

Production per person, 2024

World production of spring onions and shallots was 0.68 kg per person in 2024. The highest figures, among countries with at least 1 million inhabitants:

#	Country	kg per person	Production
1	New Zealand	51.3	267,459 t
2	Mali	34.6	847,300 t
3	Tunisia	23.4	287,167 t
4	Albania	17.9	49,981 t
5	Angola	16.2	612,391 t
6	Morocco	9.64	367,061 t
7	South Korea	8.70	449,753 t
8	Libya	7.56	55,811 t
9	Ecuador	5.45	98,847 t
10	Norway	4.54	25,300 t

Production divided by population (FAOSTAT population estimates, 2024). Production per person is not consumption: countries export, import and use crops for feed, processing and industry.

International trade, 2024

Trade item: Onions and shallots, green. Other forms of this product (for example frozen, boneless, shelled, dried or processed) are separate FAO trade items that are not included here, so these figures cover only part of its trade.

World exports: 448,030 t
Export value: USD 300 m
Average export price: 0.67 USD/kg

New Zealand was the largest exporter with 36.4% of the quantity reported by exporting countries; Côte d'Ivoire was the largest importer with 42.2%. World exports grew 42% over ten years.

World exports, 2000–2024 (tonnes)

Largest exporters

#	Country	Tonnes	Share	Value	USD/kg	10-year change
1	New Zealand	163,148	36.4%	USD 98.3 m	0.60	−14%
2	Morocco	63,855	14.3%	USD 25.2 m	0.39	+138%
3	Nigeria	45,603	10.2%	USD 17.2 m	0.38	+284,919%
4	France	37,244	8.3%	USD 41.8 m	1.12	+38%
5	Brazil	37,097	8.3%	USD 22.8 m	0.61	+3,537%
6	Tajikistan	29,286	6.5%	USD 3.2 m	0.11	+2,343%
7	Netherlands	22,148	4.9%	USD 35.3 m	1.59	+8.3%
8	Indonesia	13,762	3.1%	USD 18.6 m	1.35	+210%
9	Burkina Faso	10,548	2.4%	USD 3.7 m	0.35	+0.7%
10	Germany	8,518	1.9%	USD 19.8 m	2.33	+0.9%

Largest importers

#	Country	Tonnes	Share	Value	USD/kg	10-year change
1	Côte d'Ivoire	320,119	42.2%	USD 58.8 m	0.18	+177%
2	Brazil	257,433	33.9%	USD 101 m	0.39	+71%
3	Paraguay	41,487	5.5%	USD 8.1 m	0.19	+190%
4	Gambia	23,242	3.1%	USD 4.1 m	0.18	+74%
5	Netherlands	15,349	2.0%	USD 12.6 m	0.82	+176%
6	Dominican Republic	11,491	1.5%	USD 6.1 m	0.53	—
7	Liberia	10,284	1.4%	USD 5.0 m	0.49	+34%
8	Burkina Faso	10,180	1.3%	USD 476,000	0.05	+104%
9	Germany	9,411	1.2%	USD 16.5 m	1.76	+30%
10	Trinidad and Tobago	7,640	1.0%	USD 5.2 m	0.68	−8.7%

FAOSTAT detailed trade data (Crops and livestock products trade, release of 23 July 2026): quantities in tonnes and values in current US dollars as reported by countries; exports include re-exports. Shares are of the total reported by all exporting or importing countries. World exports and imports do not match because of timing, valuation (exports FOB, imports CIF) and gaps in reporting. Processed products such as juices, dried or canned goods are separate items.

Onion prices on wholesale markets

Markets quoting: 169
Median price: 0.81 EUR/kg
Middle half of quotes: 0.55–1.15 EUR/kg
Latest quote: 11 November 2026

Prices in producing countries

Rank	Producer	Production, 2024	Markets	Median price
1	China	908,012 t	2	0.97 EUR/kg
4	Japan	488,887 t	1	1.10 EUR/kg
11	Turkey	108,184 t	14	0.68 EUR/kg
12	Ecuador	98,847 t	1	0.55 EUR/kg
13	Mexico	97,708 t	40	1.26 EUR/kg
25	United Kingdom	15,638 t	2	0.71 EUR/kg
37	Kuwait	943 t	1	0.78 EUR/kg

Median of the midpoints of 476 current quotes converted to EUR per kg at the reference rates used on Husfarm. Markets quote different varieties, grades, origins and trade stages, so prices are not directly comparable between countries.

All onion quotes

Questions and answers

Which country produces the most spring onions and shallots?

China was the largest producer in 2024 with 908,012 t, 16.3% of the world total, according to FAOSTAT.

What is the world production of spring onions and shallots?

World production was 5.6 million t in 2024, +16% compared with 2014.

Which countries produce the most spring onions and shallots?

In 2024: China (908,012 t, 16.3%), Mali (847,300 t, 15.2%), Angola (612,391 t, 11.0%), Japan (488,887 t, 8.8%), South Korea (449,753 t, 8.1%). Together they account for 59.3% of the world total.

What is the average yield of spring onions and shallots?

The world average was 22.27 tonnes per hectare in 2024 (5.6 million t from 250,443 ha harvested).

What is the wholesale price of spring onions and shallots today?

The median of 476 current quotes on 169 markets tracked by Husfarm is 0.81 EUR/kg (latest quote 11 November 2026). Prices vary widely by variety, grade, origin and market.

Which country exports the most onions and shallots, green?

New Zealand exported 163,148 t in 2024, 36.4% of reported world exports, worth USD 98.3 m, according to FAOSTAT trade data.

Which country imports the most onions and shallots, green?

Côte d'Ivoire imported 320,119 t in 2024, 42.2% of reported world imports.

Where does this data come from?

Production and area figures are from FAOSTAT, the statistics database of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (dataset Crops and livestock products, release of 23 December 2025). Shares, rankings, changes and averages are calculated by Husfarm.

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About the data

Figures are production in tonnes as reported to or estimated by FAO for each calendar year; the latest year is 2024.
Letters next to a country mark figures that are not official national data: E estimated by FAO, I imputed by FAO (filled in by a statistical model), X taken from an external organisation. Treat them as approximate.
Shares are relative to the FAO world total; ten-year changes compare 2024 with 2014; yield is production divided by area harvested; average growth per year is the compound annual rate between the two years.
Country series on Husfarm start in 2000; the world series starts in 1961.

Download CSV All countries and years: production, area harvested and FAO flag.

How to cite: FAO (2025). FAOSTAT: Crops and livestock products — Spring onions and shallots. Retrieved via Husfarm, https://husfarm.com/production/spring-onions/. Licence CC BY 4.0.

Source: FAO. 2025. FAOSTAT: Crops and livestock products. Accessed on 4 November 2026. fao.org/faostat. Licence: CC BY 4.0. Charts, rankings and changes calculated by Husfarm.