Monday, August 4, 2025

Mexico becomes world’s leading exporter of bell peppers

Mexico was the world’s leading exporter of bell peppers in the first 11 months of 2021 with 29% of the world’s market.

The sweet fruit, treated as a vegetable in cooking, brought in US $1.37 billion from January through November 2021, a rise of 5.4% in annual terms. Bell pepper exports brought in just under $1.3 billion over the same period in 2020.

The main buyers were the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

However, the vast majority of the peppers sold — 1.47 million tonnes — were destined for the United States.

The U.S. is the biggest importer of chiles and bell peppers in the world, taking 32.3% of the market.

The highest producing state for the two products from 2016 to 2020 was Chihuahua, with 23.6% of the total yield. When indoor production is not included, Sinaloa is the biggest producer at around 166,000 tonnes a year.

During the same period, 3.3 million tonnes were produced per year in Mexico. Almost 50% are produced in a protected environment, allowing for year round production.

Peppers are native to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. Pepper seeds were imported to Spain in 1493 and then spread through Europe and Asia.

With reports from AM Querétaro

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
ABC Daycare protest

Mexico asks US to extradite former daycare owner convicted of manslaughter

1
The co-owner of ABC Daycare Center, where a fire in 2009 claimed the lives of 49 young children and babies, was a fugitive in the United States until her recent arrest in Arizona.
Drug bust on boat in French Polynesia

Sailboat carrying US $381M in drugs from Mexico intercepted in French Polynesia

0
French Polynesia’s vast maritime zone comprises 5.5 million square kilometers, making it a popular route for traffickers to ship their drugs from South American and Mexican sources to the Australian market.
sending remittances via Western Union

Remittances to Mexico plummet 16.2% in June, the biggest drop in over a decade

6
The double-digit drop was the most of any June on record, bringing the annual decline in remittances in the first half of 2025 to nearly US $2B.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity