Global share of wheat production of the Middle East by country 2022/2023

Turkey was the leading contributor to global wheat production within the Middle East region, with a share of 2.26 percent, as of the marketing year 2022/2023. For the same period, Israel contributed the smallest share of the world's wheat production among the Middle Eastern countries.

Wheat production

As of 2021, wheat was the leading grain harvested worldwide, followed by corn and rice. The global wheat production was over 778.6 million metric tons for the same period. Turkey produced almost half of the Middle Eastern region's wheat. Iran closely followed this with over 35 percent. The fertile crescent region of the Euphrates and Tigris river system, which flows between Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, was the region's leading harvesting area for wheat. At the same time, that region saw a decline in wheat production in the past five years, especially Iraq, where the production of wheat decreased by 25 percent during that period.

Wheat consumption

The worldwide per capita wheat consumption is estimated at 67.7 kg and is expected to stay like this for another decade. Wheat is one of the leading crops for human consumption. Around 68.5 percent of its production is meant for human consumption. Only rice and legume products have higher shares of human consumption rather than being used for livestock feed, fuel, or industrial purposes.