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