(AGENPARL) – Thu 24 April 2025 [cid:5b641707-0dbb-4180-93a6-2950f0b64e64]
Ask and FAO will answer
Get some key insights into the state of the world through FAO statistics
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Some find the world of numbers thrilling, like a puzzle waiting to be solved. Others may be curious about statistics and data but may not necessarily know where to begin.
If you fall into the latter group, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) can guide you through a vast world of facts and figures you never knew existed.
Whether you’re an expert, a novice or simply curious, dip your toes into statistics to learn about everything from hunger and malnutrition to rural poverty and climate change.
This World Intellectual Property Day, learn how FAO’s statistical work is crucial in helping countries make timely and informed decisions, policies and investments to tackle issues related to food security and agricultural sustainability. And with FAO’s new creative common (cc) license, sharing knowledge and data has become easier and more efficient.
Let’s test this out! Do you know the answers to these questions? (Hint: You can find them in the FAO statistical databases!)
1. Which three countries are the world’s top producers of aquatic species?
To answer this question, we navigate our way to the leading source of global fishery and aquaculture statistics, FishStat.
One of its collections involves the global fishery and aquaculture production statistics database on the volume and value of aquatic species caught and cultured by country or area, by species, by FAO major fishing areas and by year, for all commercial, industrial, recreational and subsistence purposes.
After filtering the year and selecting “all countries”, you can sort the numbers and compare the quantity each country produced in that year.
If we include algae in the comparison, the answer is: China, Indonesia and India!
The FishStat data collection is crucial to helping achieve FAO Blue Transformation – an initiative that aims to create sustainable and resilient fisheries and aquatic food systems.
2. Currently, who are the largest importers and exporters of wheat?
To learn more about imports and exports on the global food commodity market, FAO directs you to the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS), a platform to enhance food market transparency and policy response for food security. Here you can find timely data on global production, consumption, prices and trade volumes of food commodities – wheat, maize, rice and soybeans in particular.
If you go to the Statistics at a glance section, you can choose the crop of interest (in this case wheat) and click on the Import and Export tabs. One of the graphs, shows the top five importing and exporting countries of the commodity last year along with projections for the current year. Information about the current year is essential for informing market participants and promoting transparency.
Ready for the answer? Egypt remains the largest importer of wheat at 14 million tonnes in 2024-2025 and the Russian Federation the largest wheat exporter at about 44 million tonnes!
With AMIS, monitoring and analysis of food commodity supplies is at your fingertips, and countries can coordinate policy action in times of market uncertainty.
3. What is the cost of a healthy diet in different countries around the world?
Did you know that being healthy can also be a question of numbers? Cost is a big factor in a family’s decision to eat healthy. FAOSTAT has the numbers you need on food and agriculture, dating back to 1961, from over 245 countries and territories.
A recent addition to FAOSTAT is the Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet (CoAHD) data, which provides information on the average cost of a healthy diet in each country, measured in purchasing power parities (PPP) per person per day, as well as the proportion and number of people unable to afford this cost.
CoAHD indicators show a population’s physical and economic access to the least expensive, locally available foods necessary to meet the requirements for a healthy diet, as defined in most of existing country’s food-based dietary guidelines.
Here is what we find: In Brazil, for example, a healthy diet costs 4.25 PPP per person per day, while in Vietnam, it was 3.96 PPP per person per day. See what it costs in your country!
4. Where are there confirmed cases of Avian Influenza?
To answer this question, look no further than EMPRES-i, a global animal disease information system, that collects and disseminates information on disease outbreaks worldwide. Its global monitoring and early warning system seeks to prevent the spread of transboundary diseases which affects animals and agrifood systems and subsequently our overall food security.
In the global platform of EMPRES-i, you can narrow your search to a specific disease. By clicking on avian influenza, the sites where the disease is confirmed will display on the map. As you click on each location, you can find details on the species in which the disease was detected and the date it was reported.
The answer: As one example, Avian Influenza has been detected in Carrion crow birds in Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan in early March 2025.
Countries utilise the information on EMPRES-i to develop strategies for improving animal disease management locally and globally.
Have other questions? Start browsing FAO statistical databases and see where it leads!
A key mission of FAO is to ensure that timely and accurate information is available to governments and decision-makers to better plan and formulate policies for global food security. And with the new cc-by 4.0 license and terms of use for its statistical databases, FAO is simplifying the process of sharing data, making it more accessible to all curious minds!
The story and photos can be found here: https://www.fao.org/newsroom/story/ask-and-fao-will-answer/en
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This email was issued by the Media Office at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).