I don’t know about you, but “coconuts” and “Hawaii” go hand-in-hand in my vocabulary. If that’s the case, you’ll be just as surprised as me that Hawaii doesn’t get the USA even close to eating as many coconuts as some of these other countries…
I took a look at the most recent data to see which country consumes the most coconuts, and unsurprisingly, countries closer to the equator tend to eat more coconuts (sorry Canada, you’ll have to stick to your maple syrup).
In this article, we’ll dive into the top 5 coconut-consuming countries of the world, and discuss why each of their diets might have so much coconut in them – either through shredded coconuts, coconut water, and any other coconut-related thing!
How these rankings are created
We’ve ranked these countries on coconut consumption PER CAPITA, which means that we’ve averaged how many coconuts a country consumes per 100,000 people. Otherwise, some countries would rank differently just because of the sheer amount of people they have…and that would skew the data a bit.
The top 5 countries that eat the most coconuts
Here are the top 5 countries that eat the most coconuts, with a bit of extra information on each!
#5: Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a country located in the Carribeans – an ideal vacation spot!
A study shows that the Dominican Republic consumes an average of 31 kg per capita, making it one of the most coconut-oriented countries on the planet! With its many bars and resorts, the Dominican Republic is famous for coconut-based cocktails and refreshing drinks, mixing the delicious milk up for tourists and locals!
#4: Seychelles
You may have heard of Seychelles as a luxury travel location, but did you know that it’s one of the top consumers of coconuts in the world? It’s an archipelagic country consisting of 115 islands just East of Africa in the Indian Ocean. With a population of around 120,000, Seychelles puts back about 32.5 kg of coconuts per capita.
Not only do you get absolutely gorgeous views and clear blue water, but you can enjoy many drinks and dishes with a coconut base!
#3: Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea makes a massive jump from #4 on this list, consuming 45 kg of coconuts per capita!
In fact, the land area under coconut palm trees is estimated to be around 250,000 hectares – which is equal to over 470,000 football fields! You can imagine that there are more than enough coconuts to go around…
#2: Comoros
Comoros makes another big jump, reportedly consuming 58 kg of coconuts per capita. It is one of the most underdeveloped and poorest countries in the world, but uses coconuts as one of its main exports (and foods) along with vanilla, cloves, and ylang-ylang.
They also used to be a big exporter of coconut oil, but that has slowed down greatly in the past years.
#1: Sri Lanka
Coming in hot at the #1 spot, Sri Lanka eats the most coconuts out of every country in the world!
At nearly 61 kg per capita, Sri Lanka truly is the coconut capital of the world! In fact, ⅕ of all the farming land is dedicated to growing coconuts. Now, Sri Lanka only got the number 1 spot in recent years – there were many years of stagnated coconut production, but a recent change shot them up to the top!
Conclusion
And those are the top 5 countries that eat the most coconuts in the world!
Surprisingly enough, the USA doesn’t even make it into the top 15 – but the data doesn’t lie! Looking at coconut consumption on a per capita basis makes it clear what the top countries are, and we’re excited to see how these numbers will change in the future.
There were some surprising countries on this list – let us know which ones you didn’t expect in the comments below!
Also, if you want to get into even more coconut-related foods, be sure to try making this delicious coconut yogurt!
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