Kola Nuts Consumption by Country

Ghana held the largest kola nut food supply in 2023, at 20,582 tonnes or 50.4 percent of the 40,820-tonne total. Burkina Faso followed, ahead of Sierra Leone. The series is defined by steep declines rather than growth: Nigeria, Cameroon and Ivory Coast, all large in 2019, reported zero by 2023. FAO's per-capita series for kola nuts has no 2023 values.

Kola Nuts Consumption by Country: Quick Answer

Which country consumes the most kola nuts? Ghana, with 20,582 tonnes in 2023, or 50.4% of the 40,820-tonne total across 54 countries. Burkina Faso (8,850 tonnes) and Sierra Leone (7,721) follow. This is food available for human consumption, not actual intake, and FAO's per-capita series has no 2023 values.

Bahrain placed fourth at 1,214 tonnes and Niger fifth at 1,194, with France sixth (354.79 tonnes), the United States seventh (315.94) and Iran eighth (161.75). Ghana's figure was 2.33 times Burkina Faso's, and the top three alone reached 91.0 percent of the total.

Key Changes in Kola Nuts Supply

• Nigeria's 155,394 tonnes in 2019 had fallen to zero by 2023.
• Cameroon's 42,557 tonnes in 2019 rose to 43,755 in 2020, then dropped to zero from 2021.
• Ivory Coast's 33,068 tonnes in 2019 dropped to zero from 2021.
• Ghana's 3,366-tonne fall was the largest of any country between 2022 and 2023.

Kola Nuts Consumption

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#	Country	2023 (tonnes)2023	2023 (grams per person per day)2023
1	Ghana GH	20.58K	—
2	Burkina Faso BF	8.85K	—
3	Sierra Leone SL	7.72K	—
4	Bahrain BH	1.21K	—
5	Niger NE	1.19K	—
6	France FR	354.79	—
7	United States US	315.94	—
8	Iran IR	161.75	—
9	Spain ES	117.47	—
10	Gabon GA	86.67	—
11	Canada CA	45.87	—
12	China CN	45	—
13	Saudi Arabia SA	33.64	—
14	Germany DE	30.94	—
15	United Kingdom GB	13.81	—
16	Belgium BE	13.49	—
17	Brazil BR	9.57	—
18	India IN	9.2	—
19	Denmark DK	3.92	—
20	Slovenia SI	3.44	—
21	Yemen YE	3.22	—
22	Ireland IE	2.7	—
23	Mauritania MR	1.8	—
24	Switzerland CH	1.11	—
25	Czech Republic CZ	1.06	—
26	Slovakia SK	0.99	—
27	Netherlands NL	0.55	—
28	Iceland IS	0.5	—
29	South Africa ZA	0.45	—
30	Luxembourg LU	0.41	—
31	Portugal PT	0.25	—
32	Oman OM	0.07	—
33	Sweden SE	0.06	—
34	Botswana BW	0.04	—
35	Namibia NA	0.03	—
36	Finland FI	0.02	—
37	Albania AL	0	—
38	Austria AT	0	—
39	Barbados BB	0	—
40	Cameroon CM	0	—
41	Chile CL	0	—
42	Congo CG	0	—
43	DR Congo CD	0	—
44	Gambia GM	0	—
45	Greece GR	0	—
46	Italy IT	0	—
47	Ivory Coast CI	0	—
48	Morocco MA	0	—
49	Nigeria NG	0	—
50	Panama PA	0	—
51	Poland PL	0	—
52	South Korea KR	0	—
53	Ukraine UA	0	—
54	United Arab Emirates AE	0	—

Kola Nuts Supply Falls in the Latest Year

Across the 54 countries with values in both 2022 and 2023, the total slipped 6.5 percent from 43,679 tonnes, a loss of 2,860 tonnes, with no country entering or leaving. Ghana's decline accounted for 117.7 percent of the net fall, so gains elsewhere offset part of it. Burkina Faso added 1,187 tonnes, Bahrain 68 and Spain 63.68. Besides Ghana, the largest declines were the United States (355.14 tonnes), Sierra Leone (313), France (79.05) and Germany (51.67).

Kola Nuts Supply Since the Start of the Series

Among the 41 countries reporting in both 2019 and 2023, the total fell from 267,888 tonnes to 40,651, a drop of 227,237 tonnes, or 84.8 percent. Nigeria alone accounted for 155,394 tonnes of that loss, Cameroon 42,557 and Ivory Coast 33,068. Those three declines were partly offset by gains elsewhere; Burkina Faso climbed 4,185 tonnes, Niger added 1,194 from a zero base, and Sierra Leone 411. Five countries left the table and 13 joined, Iran the largest newcomer at 161.75 tonnes.

What the Kola Nuts Data Covers

Kola nuts are a separate FAO item, counted on their own and never merged with cocoa, coffee or other tree crops. The figures track food available for human consumption in the reference year. The last year with broad per-capita coverage is 2019; in that year Cameroon led at 4.51 grams a day, ahead of Ivory Coast at 3.52, so this page compares quantities alone.

Kola Nuts Countries Where FAO Lists Zero

FAO lists zero from 2020 for Nigeria, after 155,394 tonnes in 2019, and from 2021 for Cameroon and Ivory Coast, after 42,557 and 33,068 tonnes. Italy also shows zero from 2021 and Congo from 2023. A blank cell would mean no report rather than a zero, and zeros after large values are worth checking against the source.

Kola Nuts Consumption by Country

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#	Country	2019 (t)	2019 (g/cap/d)	2020 (t)	2020 (g/cap/d)	2021 (t)	2021 (g/cap/d)	2022 (t)	2022 (g/cap/d)	2023 (t)	2023 (g/cap/d)
1	Ghana	22.32K	2.01	20.97K	-	21.05K	-	23.95K	-	20.58K	-
2	Burkina Faso	4.67K	0.63	7.5K	-	9.42K	-	7.66K	-	8.85K	-
3	Sierra Leone	7.31K	2.56	7.48K	-	7.86K	-	8.03K	-	7.72K	-
4	Bahrain	887.83	-	996.09	-	424.24	-	1.15K	-	1.21K	-
5	Niger	0	0	1.1K	-	756.8	-	1.17K	-	1.19K	-
6	France	397.97	-	408.87	-	460.65	-	433.84	-	354.79	-
7	United States	931.03	-	442.17	-	468.39	-	671.08	-	315.94	-
8	Iran	-	-	0	-	82.7	-	162.21	-	161.75	-
9	Spain	39.54	0	69.08	-	35.04	-	53.79	-	117.47	-
10	Gabon	128.37	-	85.82	-	74.74	-	71.74	-	86.67	-
11	Canada	7.58	0	7.76	-	16.46	-	24.37	-	45.87	-
12	China	25	-	50	-	0.02	-	9.4	-	45	-
13	Saudi Arabia	6.58	0	-	-	0.18	-	32.07	-	33.64	-
14	Germany	56.09	0	68.96	-	110.91	-	82.61	-	30.94	-
15	United Kingdom	7	0	12.58	-	2.18	-	40.39	-	13.81	-
16	Belgium	13.8	-	9.15	-	12.27	-	21.2	-	13.49	-
17	Brazil	2.87	0	8	-	1.19	-	3.54	-	9.57	-
18	India	14.84	0	10.18	-	25.56	-	5.6	-	9.2	-
19	Denmark	-	-	0.41	-	0	-	0.2	-	3.92	-
20	Slovenia	0.18	0	0.37	-	0.1	-	3.04	-	3.44	-
21	Yemen	0	0	15.55	0	57.34	-	14.31	-	3.22	-
22	Ireland	0.1	-	1.29	-	1.74	-	1.95	-	2.7	-
23	Mauritania	-	-	-	-	0.02	-	3.25	-	1.8	-
24	Switzerland	0.19	0	1.1	-	0.95	-	0.8	-	1.11	-
25	Czech Republic	1.2	0	1.19	-	0.68	-	0.47	-	1.06	-
26	Slovakia	0.06	0	0.3	-	8.42	-	0.06	-	0.99	-
27	Netherlands	21.08	0	2.81	-	9.59	-	6.98	-	0.55	-
28	Iceland	0.01	-	0.01	-	0.02	-	0.04	-	0.5	-
29	South Africa	-	-	0.43	-	0	-	0	-	0.45	-
30	Luxembourg	-	-	0.66	-	0.21	-	0.22	-	0.41	-
31	Portugal	0.08	0	0.18	-	0.19	-	0.18	-	0.25	-
32	Oman	0	-	0	-	0	-	4.75	-	0.07	-
33	Sweden	-	-	-	-	0.04	-	0.16	-	0.06	-
34	Botswana	0.01	-	0.05	-	0.08	-	0.19	-	0.04	-
35	Namibia	0.01	0	0.03	-	0.16	-	0	-	0.03	-
36	Finland	-	-	0.02	-	0.02	-	0.02	-	0.02	-
37	Albania	-	-	-	-	1.76	-	0	-	0	-
38	Austria	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.04	-	0	-
39	Barbados	-	-	0.06	-	0	-	0	-	0	-
40	Cameroon	42.56K	4.51	43.76K	-	0	-	0	-	0	-
41	Chile	0.02	0	-	-	0	-	0	-	0	-
42	Congo	10.14	0.01	10.7	-	4	-	0.79	-	0	-
43	DR Congo	6.75	0	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-
44	Gambia	0	-	0	-	169.03	-	45	-	0	-
45	Greece	13.36	0	0	-	9.57	-	0	-	0	-
46	Italy	0.87	0	2.85	-	0	-	0	-	0	-
47	Ivory Coast	33.07K	3.52	33.4K	-	0	-	0	-	0	-
48	Morocco	-	-	-	-	12.81	-	9.84	-	0	-
49	Nigeria	155.39K	2.12	0	-	0	-	0	-	0	-
50	Panama	-	-	0.42	-	0.21	-	0.33	-	0	-
51	Poland	0.45	0	0.77	-	0	-	0	-	0	-
52	South Korea	0.01	0	0	-	0	-	0.08	-	0	-
53	Ukraine	-	-	0.02	-	0.12	-	0.13	-	0	-
54	United Arab Emirates	0	0	36.78	-	97.37	-	17.69	-	0	-
55	Trinidad and Tobago	-	-	0.18	-	0.1	-	-	-	-	-
56	Bulgaria	0.06	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
57	Zambia	-	-	0.03	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
58	Cape Verde	0.01	-	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
59	Iraq	-	-	0.02	-	0	-	-	-	-	-
60	Kenya	0.09	0	0.04	-	0	-	-	-	-	-
61	Kuwait	6.4	-	0	-	0	-	-	-	-	-
62	Romania	-	-	0.88	-	0	-	-	-	-	-
63	Türkiye	0	0	0.1	-	0	-	-	-	-	-

Methodology

Percentages use the earlier year as the base, and a zero base gives no percentage. Totals are FAO's food supply quantity for kola nuts in tonnes (element 5141), covering 2019 to 2023; per-capita grams per day come from element 665, which has no 2023 values. Comparisons between two years use only countries with a value in both. A zero means FAO reported zero; an empty cell means no value was reported. The values are food available for human consumption: household waste and losses are not deducted, so the amount eaten is lower. The tables list 63 countries with a value in at least one year, excluding World, regions and China (aggregate); China is the single China row. The 2023 annual listed total covers the 54 countries with a value. Source: FAO FAOSTAT, compiled by StatsGeo.