The world's largest producer of bananas is India, although the majority of its bananas are consumed domestically. As of 2009, 84% of the world's banana exports came from Latin America and the Philippines. The largest importers of bananas were the United States, the European Union and Japan. These countries imported 56% of all exported bananas. The amount of bananas imported to the European Union increased by more than 15% from 2000 to 2009.
More about bananas:
- Bananas are grown in more than 130 countries. Researchers believe that there might be as many as 1,000 different types of bananas in the world.
- Banana trees are not actually trees, because they do not produce wood. They actually are giant herbs.
- Banana fiber can be used to produce paper and textiles.