Mushrooms were once considered a part of specific Italian cuisine only. However, nowadays, they are used in a variety of food items. As a matter of fact, the USA produces mushrooms at a mass scale and is among one of the most consuming countries as well. Globally, the mushroom market size is $33,553.0 million as of 2019 and is expected to reach $53,342 million by 2027. Let’s evaluate mushrooms in very precise numbers. 

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White Button Mushroom Market

The most commonly consumed form of mushrooms is the white button mushrooms. These mushrooms are used in soups, pizzas, and many other dishes as well. They have various health benefits as well and are easy to grow as well. These mushrooms are preferred for consumption because of their meaty content and bigger size. 

As of 2016, the global mushroom market was $3.7 billion which reached the $5 billion benchmark in the year 2021. A constant increase is expected in the white button mushrooms market because they are being used all over the world. By 2028, the white button mushroom market is expected to reach $8 billion which is more than double the market size of 2016. 

Top Shiitake Mushroom Producing Countries

After the white button mushrooms, the shiitake mushrooms are quite popular. This is why they are grown and consumed in a number of countries. They are grown in controlled environments to get the best products and maximize the yield as well. They go well in soups and gravies. Shiitake mushrooms are mostly used in Asian cuisine. Globally, the Shiitake mushrooms account for 25% of the total mushroom production. 

China is the biggest producer of shiitake mushrooms as it produced $234 million worth of shiitakes in 2020.  Other countries in this list are not even 1/4th of this number but are close competitors. This includes Poland ($60 Million), Italy ($55 Million), Netherlands ($49.7 Million), and South Korea ($46 Million). 

Annual Mushroom Production

As stated earlier, mushrooms are now grown specifically for commercial purposes. Over the past few years, the mass scale growth of mushrooms has been seen in several countries. The year-by-year production of mushrooms has increased significantly as well. This graph shows the annual mushroom production of all the types of mushrooms combined. 

As of 2008, the annual mushroom production was 6,700,000 metric tons which kept on increasing up until 2012 when it reached 9,800,000 metric tons. There was a slight fall in 2013 when this production reached 9,000,000 metric tons. By 2015, this number reached 10,900,000 metric tons. Since then, the annual mushroom production has been quite erratic with major ups and downs. By 2020, it has a really low point of 8,500,000 metric tons. 

Top Mushroom Producing Countries

As the market demand for mushrooms has risen substantially, many countries have started to grow their own mushrooms for meeting the local demand as well as for exporting them to other countries as well. Nonetheless, China is considered the market leader among mushroom-producing countries of the world. This is because it accounts for 70.1% of the total mushroom production. 

Other countries have a very insignificant share in this market as shown in the graph. This includes Italy (10.3%), USA (5.4%), Netherlands (4.2%), Poland (3%), Spain (2%), France (1.7%), and Iran (1.2%). The remaining countries like the UK and Canada only have around 1% of this market. 

Countries with Highest Per Capita Mushroom Consumption

People consume mushrooms in a variety of dishes. Some particular cuisines have it more than others. While we do know that China is the largest producer and consumer of mushrooms, the per capita mushroom consumption could be low. There were other countries earlier which had high per capita mushroom consumption in 2007. 

The Netherlands came on top of this list having 11.62 kg per capita mushroom consumption. Ireland and Belgium followed this and had 6.1kg and 4.46kg per capita mushroom consumption, respectively. Surprisingly, in 2007, the USA had this number at only 1.49kg while China had it even lower at about 1.16kg. India had only 0.09kg consumption per capita.