The Country That Consumes The Most Potatoes Isn't America Or Ireland

Americans love a spud: Whether it's the ultimate loaded baked potato or a side of fries at a fast food spot, the tuber shows up in many forms. And such culinary ubiquity applies to many other cuisines, too. In Ireland, you'll find pork sausage and colcannon, a mashed potato dish, or in France, there is classic potato gratin. So with such a prevalence in global culture, you may wonder which country leads in consumption.

Well, among such famed potato hotspots, the nation that comes in first place may surprise you. According to 2022 data published by the World Population Review, it's China that tops enjoyment worldwide. The country consumed nearly 80,000 tons of potatoes that year — over four times the USA. Classically, you may not associate tubers with East Asian cuisine. However, due to the plant's hardiness, the country amplified the crop's agriculture during the 20th century. Subsequently, you'll find potatoes in dishes like Chinese-style stir fries, beef stews, potato salads, and more.

Nevertheless, rice and noodles also reign as starch favorites, so when examining the spud enjoyment per capita, China's not among the top contenders — first place goes to Belarus. Yet even adjusted for population, the Asian country trails the U.S. by only a few pounds, cementing it as the globe's leading consumer.

With potatoes' worldwide popularity, it's easy to forget that the vegetable originates from the Andes Mountains of South America. Incan tribes — in what's now Peru and Bolivia — first grew the delicious starch. However, the spud subsequently sailed onto new continents, integrating into cuisine (like Ireland's) during the 17th century, while consumption in modern hotspots Belarus and Poland picked up during the 19th century. As a result,  associations between Ireland and potatoes aren't just a figment of popular culture. Despite tragedies like the Great Famine, the country appeared among the top consumers per capita as late as the 1980s, as per data published by the Helgi Library. 

Nevertheless, from the 20th century onwards, the leader of potato consumption per capita consistently lay elsewhere. Apart from a brief swap — Portugal led the charts in 1986 — it was most often either Poland or Belarus that took the helm from the 1950s and into the 21st century. Here, industrial potato agriculture (as well as its culinary applications) thrived under Communist rule. Compounded with cultural prominence, this established the rise of the vegetable unlike anywhere else. Such factors explain why, in 2022, the small European country of Belarus consumed more than 350 pounds of the tuber a person per year — and Ukraine, 306 pounds, as noted by the World Population Review. So, experience a local meal in this part of the globe, and potatoes will, dependably, be on the table.