PEANUTS
Known as groundnuts in much of the world, peanuts come from an herb and vine that is a member of the pea family. They are technically fruit in a pod, not true nuts, and do not taste like peanuts until after they have been roasted. Raw ones taste sort of like hard peas.
Peanuts are the source of cooking oil, peanut butter, soap, oleomargarine, packing for sardines, and stock feed. The vine, shells, skins are also used as animal fodder.
Peanuts are originally from Brazil. They were introduced to Africa by Portuguese slave traders and then brought to Europe and the United States. They remain widely grown in Africa. African ground nuts have more oil but are smaller and have a milder flavor than American varieties.
On a percentage basis peanuts have more protein than steaks and more carbohydrates than potatoes. Often recommended as a meat substitute, they are also relatively high in fat. They have a third of the fat as butter.
Peanut Cutivation
Peanuts grow fast and do well in places with a short growing season and little rain and survive droughts better than other plants. They yield 34 to 60 bushels of nuts in the shell per acre and produces more protein per acre than wheat and oats and other grains.
The peanuts plant produces its nuts in an unusual way. "After the flowers have fallen, the flower stalks bend to the ground and push into the ground, where the pods of "nuts" develop." That is why they are called the ground nut.
Peanut roots are left on the soil, providing nitrogen for other crops that peanuts are often rotated with. The nuts can be stored for a long time without rotting. The genes of wild Amazonian peanuts have been implanted into domestic peanuts to increase their resistance to leaf spot disease.
Peanut Producing Countries
World’s Top Producers of Groundnuts (Peanuts), with Shell (2020): 1) China: 17993000 tonnes; 2) India: 9952000 tonnes; 3) Nigeria: 4492778 tonnes; 4) United States: 2782290 tonnes; 5) Sudan: 2773087 tonnes; 6) Senegal: 1797486 tonnes; 7) Myanmar: 1647114 tonnes; 8) Argentina: 1285431 tonnes; 9) Guinea: 1074389 tonnes; 10) Indonesia: 860000 tonnes; 11) Chad: 840035 tonnes; 12) Tanzania: 690000 tonnes; 13) Brazil: 651130 tonnes; 14) Niger: 594145 tonnes; 15) Cameroon: 500000 tonnes; 16) Ghana: 450000 tonnes; 17) Vietnam: 425371 tonnes; 18) Malawi: 350000 tonnes; 19) Uganda: 336047 tonnes; 20) Democratic Republic of the Congo: 315000 tonnes
World’s Top Producers (in terms of value) of Groundnuts (Peanuts), with Shell (2019): 1) China: Int.$12680128,000 ; 2) India: Int.$4868918,000 ; 3) Nigeria: Int.$3220804,000 ; 4) Sudan: Int.$2046816,000 ; 5) United States: Int.$1804339,000 ; 6) Myanmar: Int.$1169403,000 ; 7) Senegal: Int.$1028683,000 ; 8) Argentina: Int.$967844,000 ; 9) Guinea: Int.$693125,000 ; 10) Chad: Int.$679801,000 ; 11) Tanzania: Int.$492162,000 ; 12) Brazil: Int.$420201,000 ; 13) Niger: Int.$393694,000 ; 14) Ghana: Int.$387712,000 ; 15) Cameroon: Int.$361884,000 ; 16) Democratic Republic of the Congo: Int.$329572,000 ; 17) Vietnam: Int.$317635,000 ; 18) Burkina Faso: Int.$286706,000 ; 19) Mali: Int.$266833,000 ; 20) Malawi: Int.$253319,000 [An international dollar (Int.$) buys a comparable amount of goods in the cited country that a U.S. dollar would buy in the United States.]
Peanut Exporting Countries
World’s Top Exporters of Groundnuts (Peanuts), without Shell (2020): 1) Argentina: 675083 tonnes; 2) India: 666396 tonnes; 3) Sudan: 328597 tonnes; 4) United States: 293553 tonnes; 5) Brazil: 258915 tonnes; 6) Senegal: 251067 tonnes; 7) Netherlands: 140561 tonnes; 8) China: 103963 tonnes; 9) Nicaragua: 72612 tonnes; 10) Tanzania: 46759 tonnes; 11) Malawi: 46221 tonnes; 12) Vietnam: 39982 tonnes; 13) Ethiopia: 36095 tonnes; 14) Egypt: 27672 tonnes; 15) Madagascar: 24597 tonnes; 16) Germany: 18011 tonnes; 17) South Africa: 15527 tonnes; 18) Belgium: 14401 tonnes; 19) Bolivia: 11455 tonnes; 20) United Arab Emirates: 8749 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]
World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Groundnuts (Peanuts), without Shell (2020): 1) Argentina: US$855391,000; 2) India: US$739523,000; 3) United States: US$327563,000; 4) Brazil: US$318812,000; 5) Sudan: US$271781,000; 6) Netherlands: US$235325,000; 7) Senegal: US$190271,000; 8) China: US$170800,000; 9) Nicaragua: US$89497,000; 10) Vietnam: US$56810,000; 11) Egypt: US$46289,000; 12) Malawi: US$39317,000; 13) Germany: US$26853,000; 14) Ethiopia: US$26636,000; 15) Belgium: US$23397,000; 16) South Africa: US$16671,000; 17) Tanzania: US$14959,000; 18) Bolivia: US$10210,000; 19) Uzbekistan: US$9547,000; 19) Madagascar: US$8172,000
World’s Top Exporters of Prepared Groundnuts (Peanuts) (2020): 1) China: 241777 tonnes; 2) Netherlands: 58755 tonnes; 3) India: 48156 tonnes; 4) Argentina: 46333 tonnes; 5) United States: 34195 tonnes; 6) Poland: 26020 tonnes; 7) Germany: 24047 tonnes; 8) Mexico: 15359 tonnes; 9) Italy: 12611 tonnes; 10) Belgium: 12345 tonnes; 11) Luxembourg: 10591 tonnes; 12) South Africa: 8569 tonnes; 13) Thailand: 6806 tonnes; 14) United Arab Emirates: 6020 tonnes; 15) United Kingdom: 5674 tonnes; 16) Brazil: 5009 tonnes; 17) Myanmar: 4905 tonnes; 18) Russia: 4871 tonnes; 19) El Salvador: 3831 tonnes; 20) Slovakia: 3440 tonnes
World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Prepared Groundnuts (Peanuts) (2020): 1) China: US$499062,000; 2) Netherlands: US$149319,000; 3) India: US$84706,000; 4) United States: US$80615,000; 5) Argentina: US$76953,000; 6) Germany: US$72946,000; 7) Poland: US$66267,000; 8) Mexico: US$38977,000; 9) Thailand: US$33096,000; 10) Luxembourg: US$32402,000; 11) Belgium: US$27866,000; 12) Italy: US$24181,000; 13) United Arab Emirates: US$22333,000; 14) South Africa: US$18952,000; 15) United Kingdom: US$17460,000; 16) Russia: US$10239,000; 17) Vietnam: US$10220,000; 18) Benin: US$10164,000; 19) Brazil: US$9884,000; 20) Indonesia: US$9661,000
World’s Top Exporters of Groundnut (Peanut) Cake (2020): 1) Sudan: 92877 tonnes; 2) Argentina: 26026 tonnes; 3) Nicaragua: 8944 tonnes; 4) India: 8555 tonnes; 5) United States: 7318 tonnes; 6) Netherlands: 3181 tonnes; 7) Iran: 1315 tonnes; 8) Afghanistan: 978 tonnes; 9) Canada: 695 tonnes; 10) Brazil: 669 tonnes; 11) China: 391 tonnes; 12) Belgium: 220 tonnes; 13) Uganda: 172 tonnes; 14) France: 125 tonnes; 15) Poland: 105 tonnes; 16) South Africa: 104 tonnes; 17) Vietnam: 63 tonnes; 18) Tanzania: 61 tonnes; 19) Germany: 40 tonnes; 20) Nigeria: 37 tonnes
World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Groundnut (Peanut) Cake (2020): 1) Sudan: US$31629,000; 2) Argentina: US$6178,000; 3) India: US$2983,000; 4) Nicaragua: US$2688,000; 5) Brazil: US$2427,000; 6) Netherlands: US$1994,000; 7) United States: US$1636,000; 8) Iran: US$1618,000; 9) Afghanistan: US$1178,000; 10) China: US$145,000; 11) France: US$124,000; 12) Belgium: US$112,000; 13) Canada: US$76,000; 14) Uganda: US$59,000; 15) South Africa: US$37,000; 16) Poland: US$29,000; 17) Philippines: US$26,000; 18) Vietnam: US$26,000; 19) Nigeria: US$23,000; 20) Germany: US$16,000
Peanut Importing Countries
World’s Top Importers of Groundnuts (Peanuts), without Shell (2020): 1) China: 765191 tonnes; 2) Netherlands: 386719 tonnes; 3) Indonesia: 292309 tonnes; 4) Russia: 148528 tonnes; 5) United Kingdom: 125159 tonnes; 6) Germany: 121501 tonnes; 7) Canada: 108124 tonnes; 8) Vietnam: 88396 tonnes; 9) Poland: 64931 tonnes; 10) Philippines: 64550 tonnes; 11) Mexico: 61994 tonnes; 12) Algeria: 59579 tonnes; 13) Thailand: 59125 tonnes; 14) Malaysia: 45220 tonnes; 15) Uganda: 38780 tonnes; 16) South Africa: 38518 tonnes; 17) France: 34112 tonnes; 18) Spain: 32619 tonnes; 19) Japan: 32018 tonnes; 20) Australia: 31618 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]
World’s Top Importers (in value terms) of Groundnuts (Peanuts), without Shell (2020): 1) China: US$653463,000; 2) Netherlands: US$554273,000; 3) Indonesia: US$329268,000; 4) Russia: US$187787,000; 5) Germany: US$178621,000; 6) United Kingdom: US$172274,000; 7) Canada: US$138613,000; 8) Vietnam: US$136590,000; 9) Poland: US$96499,000; 10) Algeria: US$79056,000; 11) Mexico: US$68391,000; 12) Japan: US$65761,000; 13) Thailand: US$61919,000; 14) Malaysia: US$59761,000; 15) France: US$56279,000; 16) Spain: US$53187,000; 17) Australia: US$43762,000; 18) South Africa: US$38883,000; 19) Belgium: US$37608,000; 20) Italy: US$33635,000
World’s Top Importers of Prepared Groundnuts (Peanuts) (2020): 1) France: 52510 tonnes; 2) Japan: 47780 tonnes; 3) Germany: 32896 tonnes; 4) South Korea: 31811 tonnes; 5) United States: 27258 tonnes; 6) United Kingdom: 20796 tonnes; 7) Canada: 19444 tonnes; 8) Mexico: 11516 tonnes; 9) Sweden: 10750 tonnes; 10) New Zealand: 10723 tonnes; 11) Iraq: 10512 tonnes; 12) Australia: 10274 tonnes; 13) South Africa: 9872 tonnes; 14) Netherlands: 9635 tonnes; 15) Poland: 9554 tonnes; 16) Israel: 9470 tonnes; 17) Czechia: 8195 tonnes; 18) Malaysia: 7950 tonnes; 19) Austria: 7855 tonnes; 20) Kenya: 7440 tonnes
World’s Top Importers (in value terms) of Prepared Groundnuts (Peanuts) (2020): 1) Japan: US$115494,000; 2) France: US$104933,000; 3) Germany: US$88772,000; 4) United States: US$66777,000; 5) South Korea: US$64897,000; 6) Canada: US$45452,000; 7) United Kingdom: US$41792,000; 8) Mexico: US$33111,000; 9) Netherlands: US$30427,000; 10) Sweden: US$29637,000; 11) Austria: US$26505,000; 12) Poland: US$25832,000; 13) Australia: US$24257,000; 14) Malaysia: US$24080,000; 15) New Zealand: US$22599,000; 16) Israel: US$22180,000; 17) Iraq: US$21701,000; 18) United Arab Emirates: US$21301,000; 19) Singapore: US$20331,000; 20) Czechia: US$19738,000. [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]
Peanut Oil Producing and Exporting Countries
World’s Top Producers of Groundnut (Peanut) Oil (2019): 1) China: 1595800 tonnes; 2) Nigeria: 375100 tonnes; 3) India: 351900 tonnes; 4) Guinea: 205993 tonnes; 5) Myanmar: 187700 tonnes; 6) Senegal: 183900 tonnes; 7) Sudan: 175000 tonnes; 8) United States: 115000 tonnes; 9) Argentina: 88200 tonnes; 10) Ghana: 72374 tonnes; 11) Brazil: 65700 tonnes; 12) Chad: 64000 tonnes; 13) Cameroon: 63100 tonnes; 14) Malawi: 54700 tonnes; 15) Niger: 37800 tonnes; 16) Indonesia: 34790 tonnes; 17) Benin: 32000 tonnes; 18) Mali: 30900 tonnes; 19) Nicaragua: 29300 tonnes; 20) Central African Republic: 28000 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]
World’s Top Exporters of Groundnut (Peanut) Oil (2020): 1) India: 168578 tonnes; 2) Brazil: 67437 tonnes; 3) Argentina: 55479 tonnes; 4) Sudan: 33897 tonnes; 5) Nicaragua: 16086 tonnes; 6) United States: 13785 tonnes; 7) China: 12350 tonnes; 8) Iraq: 9466 tonnes; 9) Senegal: 8455 tonnes; 10) Belgium: 7798 tonnes; 11) Hong Kong: 2880 tonnes; 12) France: 2655 tonnes; 13) Nigeria: 2523 tonnes; 14) Netherlands: 2304 tonnes; 15) Italy: 2102 tonnes; 16) Germany: 984 tonnes; 17) Malaysia: 705 tonnes; 18) United Kingdom: 407 tonnes; 19) Spain: 174 tonnes; 20) Austria: 157 tonnes
World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Groundnut (Peanut) Oil (2020): 1) India: US$304940,000; 2) Brazil: US$111496,000; 3) Argentina: US$78558,000; 4) Sudan: US$47441,000; 5) China: US$26609,000; 6) Nicaragua: US$23434,000; 7) United States: US$23307,000; 8) Belgium: US$16108,000; 9) Senegal: US$11800,000; 10) Hong Kong: US$7112,000; 11) France: US$5282,000; 12) Netherlands: US$4781,000; 13) Italy: US$4689,000; 14) Nigeria: US$3400,000; 15) Germany: US$3311,000; 16) Iraq: US$2020,000; 17) Malaysia: US$1843,000; 18) United Kingdom: US$1227,000; 19) Austria: US$603,000; 20) Spain: US$538,000
Peanut Oil Importing Countries
World’s Top Importers of Groundnut (Peanut) Oil (2020): 1) China: 269488 tonnes; 2) Italy: 39441 tonnes; 3) Hong Kong: 15072 tonnes; 4) Netherlands: 13074 tonnes; 5) Belgium: 10740 tonnes; 6) United Arab Emirates: 9821 tonnes; 7) France: 7975 tonnes; 8) United States: 6820 tonnes; 9) Canada: 3510 tonnes; 10) Germany: 3431 tonnes; 11) Switzerland: 3314 tonnes; 12) United Kingdom: 3041 tonnes; 13) Malaysia: 2042 tonnes; 14) Macao: 1170 tonnes; 15) Norway: 1139 tonnes; 16) Togo: 1060 tonnes; 17) Austria: 732 tonnes; 18) Qatar: 683 tonnes; 19) Australia: 578 tonnes; 20) Kuwait: 351 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]
World’s Top Importers (in value terms) of Groundnut (Peanut) Oil (2020): 1) China: US$432568,000; 2) Italy: US$65699,000; 3) Hong Kong: US$30665,000; 4) Netherlands: US$23266,000; 5) Belgium: US$17055,000; 6) United States: US$13455,000; 7) France: US$13384,000; 8) Germany: US$7329,000; 9) Canada: US$6172,000; 10) United Kingdom: US$5994,000; 11) Switzerland: US$5311,000; 12) Malaysia: US$4726,000; 13) Macao: US$3238,000; 14) United Arab Emirates: US$3169,000; 15) Norway: US$2303,000; 16) Austria: US$1764,000; 17) Australia: US$1534,000; 18) Japan: US$1403,000; 19) Qatar: US$881,000; 20) Singapore: US$798,000
Peanut Butter Exporting Countries
World’s Top Exporters of Peanut Butter (2020): 1) Netherlands: 44086 tonnes; 2) United States: 39207 tonnes; 3) China: 25402 tonnes; 4) Canada: 21162 tonnes; 5) United Kingdom: 7238 tonnes; 6) Poland: 3292 tonnes; 7) Germany: 2590 tonnes; 8) Greece: 1857 tonnes; 9) France: 929 tonnes; 10) Spain: 906 tonnes; 11) Belgium: 570 tonnes; 12) Taiwan: 382 tonnes; 13) Russia: 319 tonnes; 14) Austria: 315 tonnes; 15) Trinidad and Tobago: 270 tonnes; 16) Bulgaria: 247 tonnes; 17) Hong Kong: 247 tonnes; 18) Denmark: 241 tonnes; 19) Lebanon: 151 tonnes; 20) North Macedonia: 126 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]
World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Peanut Butter (2020): 1) Netherlands: US$144674,000; 2) United States: US$118230,000; 3) Canada: US$75289,000; 4) China: US$68534,000; 5) United Kingdom: US$27506,000; 6) Germany: US$10615,000; 7) Poland: US$9595,000; 8) Greece: US$6289,000; 9) France: US$3485,000; 10) Belgium: US$2608,000; 11) Spain: US$2186,000; 12) Denmark: US$1568,000; 13) Taiwan: US$1403,000; 14) Austria: US$1297,000; 15) Hong Kong: US$1055,000; 16) Russia: US$911,000; 17) Slovakia: US$854,000; 18) Lebanon: US$693,000; 19) Bulgaria: US$620,000; 20) Italy: US$507,000
Peanut Butter Importing Countries
World’s Top Importers of Peanut Butter (2020): 1) United States: 18049 tonnes; 2) Canada: 15129 tonnes; 3) Saudi Arabia: 12407 tonnes; 4) Germany: 9888 tonnes; 5) United Kingdom: 9756 tonnes; 6) France: 7152 tonnes; 7) Chile: 5992 tonnes; 8) Japan: 5327 tonnes; 9) Taiwan: 4379 tonnes; 10) Spain: 3336 tonnes; 11) Netherlands: 3232 tonnes; 12) Hong Kong: 2836 tonnes; 13) Ireland: 2295 tonnes; 14) Sweden: 2188 tonnes; 15) Belgium: 1871 tonnes; 16) Kazakhstan: 1829 tonnes; 17) Italy: 1574 tonnes; 18) Norway: 1557 tonnes; 19) Denmark: 1325 tonnes; 20) Russia: 1146 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]
World’s Top Importers (in value terms) of Peanut Butter (2020): 1) United States: US$63416,000; 2) Canada: US$37226,000; 3) Saudi Arabia: US$34849,000; 4) Germany: US$33617,000; 5) United Kingdom: US$28403,000; 6) France: US$27118,000; 7) Japan: US$17110,000; 8) Netherlands: US$11513,000; 9) Chile: US$11433,000; 10) Hong Kong: US$10854,000; 11) Spain: US$10693,000; 12) Sweden: US$9169,000; 13) Taiwan: US$9151,000; 14) Ireland: US$8649,000; 15) Norway: US$6511,000; 16) Belgium: US$6000,000; 17) Italy: US$5808,000; 18) Denmark: US$4846,000; 19) Austria: US$4433,000; 20) China: US$4302,000
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: Food and Agriculture Organization, Wikipedia., New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, Associated Press, Lonely Planet Guides, and various books and other publications.
Last updated July 2026