Where the world's food comes from

Interactive world maps of the staples that feed and move the world

Curated, hand-researched, sourced data on the food staples that underpin global trade and food security — where each is grown, where it's exported, all on one map per item. Starting with wheat, the world's most-traded food crop; more staples are on the way.

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Wheat

Production by country and the world's biggest exporters — the staple crop traded more than any other crop combined, historically.
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Corn

Production by country and the world's biggest exporters — the world's highest-volume grain, and the second-most traded by tonnes.
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Soybean

Production by country and the world's biggest exporters — the most concentrated major food trade: two countries supply ~85% of global exports.

More on the way: other staple crops (rice, and others) and key agricultural trade goods — each getting the same treatment: real figures, real sources, on a map.

2 of 20 — Human Endeavors

All 20 items in this category

The most fundamental human necessity, with no substitute. Beyond the three crops mapped above, here is the full ranked list — all 20 items sourced to FAOSTAT production tonnage.

Cited $4.44T in global value added (4.14% of world GDP), 2023. World Bank / FAO
1Corn / maize — 1.16B t
2Sugar (sugarcane) — 1.92B t
3Rice — 800M t
4Wheat — 799M t
5Dairy (all species) — 952M t
6Meat (beef, poultry, pork) — 370M t
7Potatoes — 375M t
8Soybean — 353M t
9Cassava — 330M t
10Tomatoes — 192M t
11Bananas & plantains — 179M t
12Fish & seafood — 172.6M t
13Barley — 142M t
14Palm oil — 77.3M t
15Eggs — 80.1M t
16Sorghum — 57M t
17Cocoa beans — 5.9M t
18Coffee (green beans) — 11M t
19Tea — 29.8M t
20Sunflower oil — 20.3M t
Institutionally tracked

All 20 ranked by FAOSTAT global production tonnage. Cotton deliberately excluded (belongs to Textiles); meat/dairy/sugar kept as aggregates rather than split by subtype to avoid guessing unverified splits.
Item citation: FAOSTAT / FAO

Part of 20 Human Endeavors — see the full ranked list and every category's citations at /items/.