The Country That Produces The Most Dates In The World

Considered a symbol of prosperity in Arab cultures, the date is a small tropical fruit that's loved across the globe. Dates are also one of the cornerstone foods during Ramadan, the Islamic holy month. But have you ever wondered where they actually come from? Unsurprisingly, Egypt is the largest producer of dates in the world, which also makes sense given that it's also the most populous Arab country. It produces approximately 1.87 million tonnes of dates per year, according to Statista, thanks to having the largest number of date palm trees (which is still growing).

While Egypt takes the top spot as the largest date producer, it's closely followed by Saudi Arabia, which produces 1.64 million tonnes. In third place is Algeria with 1.32 million tonnes, and Iran takes the fourth spot, cultivating approximately 1.02 million tonnes of dates annually. Since date palm trees thrive in dry and warm weather, it's no surprise that these countries are where most of the world's dates call home.

While you may plan to just buy and enjoy dates as is (which you can totally do, especially if you use Ina Garten's tips for picking out the freshest dates), there are tons of unique ways that people prepare them. For example, bacon-wrapped dates are a two-ingredient appetizer that you and your guests will be obsessed with. You can get the crispiest bacon-wrapped dates by wrapping the raw bacon around the date and baking them both together. To take things up a notch further, consider stuffing the dates with some Gorgonzola Dolce Latte for epic flavor.

If you're looking to go down the sweet route, you can use them to make some no-bake snickerdoodle cookie dough balls. Of course, you can also try TikTok's viral date bark, which consists of pitting and flattening out a date on a cookie sheet before adding your choice of toppings, like melted white chocolate and chopped nuts. If you want to make ones that taste just like a Snickers, stuff the date with some peanut butter before drizzling it with melted chocolate. Sprinkle a little bit of salt, and then let them sit in the freezer until you're ready to snack on them. You'll thank us later.