Although Germany, together with Italy, is the largest buyer of hazelnuts, Germany is an insignificant cultivation area for this plant. But which are the leading countries for hazelnut cultivation and what are the yields there?
The most important cultivation area: Turkey
Turkey represents the country where the most hazelnuts are grown and harvested. This is probably based on the historical origin of the hazelnut. It finds its origin and climatically perfect location on the Turkish Black Sea coast.
800,000 tons of hazelnuts per year are harvested in Turkey on 660,000 hectares of land and begin their journey to the rest of the world. The main cultivation area extends from the town of Rize to the region of Akcakoca (warm and humid climate).
With the amount of 800,000 tons, Turkey has around 70% of the world production of hazelnuts. Production and cultivation had to be ramped up in the last few decades, as the world demand for hazelnuts has risen sharply.
Other hazelnut growing areas
In addition to Turkey, hazelnuts are grown in other countries. Italy is in second place with 85,232 tons of hazelnuts per year. These are grown on approximately 70,000 hectares of land.
The following countries come after Turkey and Italy as growing areas (as of 2012):
- Italy with 85,232 tons
- USA with 30,000 tons
- Azerbaijan with 29,634 tons
- Georgia with 24,700 tons
- China with 23,000 tons
- Iran with 21,440 tons
- other countries with lower crop yields: Spain, Poland and France
tips and tricks
The Turkish hazelnuts are considered the best hazelnuts due to the ideal local conditions there. Therefore, when buying, look out for Turkish hazelnuts if possible.