Consumption of Wheat in Pakistan and others Countries

Consumption of Wheat

Wheat is grown yearly on 215 million hectares — an area equivalent to that of Greenland and distributed from Scandinavia to South America and across Asia, making it more widely grown than any other staple food crop (see map below). Nearly US $50 billion-worth of wheat is traded globally each year.

First and foremost a food crop, wheat is eaten by 2.5 billion people in 89 countries. It supercedes maize or rice as a source of protein in low- and middle-income nations and is second only to rice as a source of calories. Wheat is the dominant staple in North Africa and West and Central Asia, providing as much as half of all calories consumed in the region.

Urbanization, rising incomes and working women are driving a rapid rise in global wheat consumption. Models predict that by 2050 consumers will require 60 percent more wheat than today. Challenges are big: this demand must be met without opening new land and with better use of fertilizer, water, and labor.

Wheat is a highly-nutritional and widely-cultivated cereal grain. For over 7 centuries, wheat has been raised and harvested in many countries around the world.

It’s one of the world’s most important crops and holds the title of the second most produced grain in the world, beaten only by corn. Over 750 million metric tons of wheat were produced in 2017/18 worldwide

It’s also consumed more than any other grain in the world except for rice and provides 20% of the global population’s daily protein intake.

The reason that wheat is such an important dietary staple across so many regions is due to its ability to be produced in many different types of soils and climates

USDA expects global wheat consumption to remain at record high levels in 2018/19 due to increased human consumption. Human wheat consumption is expected to reach a record high 602 million metric tons (MMT), 4 percent above the 5-year average. Over the past ten years, global human wheat consumption has increased 90 MMT, while feed wheat usage has increased 16 MMT.

 

Wheat is Pakistan’s dietary staple. Pakistan has a variety of traditional flat breads, often prepared in a traditional clay oven called a tandoor. The tandoori style of cooking is common throughout rural and urban Pakistan. Wheat flour currently contributes 72 percent of Pakistan’s daily caloric intake with per capita wheat consumption of around 124 kg per year, one of the highest in the world. MY 2017/18 consumption is forecast at 24.5 million metric tons. As incomes increase and a stronger middle class emerges, consumers are gradually shifting towards more dairy, meat, and other higher-value food products in their diet. Over the long term, this shift to a more balanced diet has the potential to limit the pace of growth in wheat consumption. The government has decided to maintain the wheat support price at the current level. While Pakistan’s wheat will continue to be significantly more expensive than in the international market, the decision to maintain the support price at the current level will provide some respite for consumers. During 2016, domestic wheat prices remained stable and price of the price wheat flour in December 2016 was almost the same as in December 2015. Out of the total demand of 24.5 million metric tons, only three percent will be used in the feed industry, and the remaining 97 percent will be used for planting and human consumption. Pakistan’s wheat milling industry is privately owned. There are about 1,000 flour mills in Pakistan, which meet the consumption needs of about 40 percent of the population, with the balance met by on farm consumption. The disbursement of government-owned wheat to flour mills is managed in an effort to ensure that sufficient wheat is available throughout the year.

A nation of 1 billion people, China is traditionally thought of as a rice-eating nation. The Chinese, however, consume 180 pounds of wheat flour per person every year, mostly in the form of noodles. Some nations have much higher annual per capita wheat flour consumption, such as Israel, at 294 pounds; France, at 241 pounds; Egypt, at 384 pounds; and Algeria, at 441 pounds.

The average American consumed 133 pounds of wheat flour in 2004. There is room for increased wheat consumption in the United States. At the turn of the century, Americans consumed about 210 pounds of wheat flour per person each year. In 1971, that figure hit an all-time low of 110 pounds per person because of inaccurate information that portrayed bread, starches and carbohydrates as fattening. Today, health professionals recommend that more than 45-65 percent of daily caloric intake should be from grain based foods. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines suggest that we consume 5 to 10 ounces of grain foods daily (depending on age, gender and activity level), with half of them coming from whole grains. Consumption has had its up and downs through the years due to various fad-diets. Hopefully consumption will be on the rise again and may someday approach the 210-pound level.

Till last few years, India’s total annual wheat consumption was around 91-92 million tonnes, assuming that there is yearly increase of 1.3 per cent in consumption, 2016-17 numbers show that wheat consumption in the country has seen a staggering rise in 2016-17.