plate 157 · 2024 data

Mato Grosso grows more soy than China and India combined

Soybean production, million tonnes, 2024: the top nine countries and Brazil's Mato Grosso state (grey: 2000).

Who feeds the world
  1. 1. Brazil has all but caught the US in farm exports
  2. 2. Brazil exports more chicken than the US and EU combined
  3. 3. India now ships over a third of world rice exports
  4. 4. Russia now exports twice as much wheat as the US
  5. 5. Egypt exports more fresh oranges than any other country
  6. 6. China buys three in ten of the world's beef imports
  7. 7. Farmed seafood now outweighs the wild catch
  8. 8. Spanish olive oil mill prices are back at 2021 levels
  9. 9. Ukraine sells a fifth less grain than before the war
  10. 10. Brazil overtook the US as the world's top cotton exporter
  11. 11. Laos now mines more potash than Israel or Jordan
  12. 12. India now grows more rice than China
  13. 13. Côte d'Ivoire grows more cashews than India
  14. 14. Indonesia set to use more palm oil than it exports
  15. 15. Mato Grosso grows more soy than China and India combined
  16. 16. Africa now has more hungry people than Asia
  17. 17. Vietnam now drinks more coffee than Russia
  18. 18. Nigeria now eats more rice than Japan
38.4 million t

Soy grown in Mato Grosso in 2024: more than China (20.7 million) and India (15.1 million) combined.

4.4×

Mato Grosso's harvest grew from 8.8 million tonnes in 2000 to 38.4 million in 2024. China's grew 1.3×.

50.2 million t

Mato Grosso's 2025 harvest, its largest yet: 30% of all the soy grown in Brazil.

Source: IBGE, Produção Agrícola Municipal (table 5457); FAO, FAOSTAT Crops and livestock products, 2024
the numbers & method
Mato Grosso grows more soy than China and India combined. Source: IBGE, Produção Agrícola Municipal (table 5457); FAO, FAOSTAT Crops and livestock products, 2024.
Soy production (Mt)2000 (grey bar) (Mt)
Brazil (all states)144.532.8
United States118.875.1
Argentina48.220.1
Mato Grosso (Brazilian state)38.48.8
China (mainland)20.715.4
India15.15.3
Paraguay11.13.0
Canada7.62.7
Russia7.00.3
Ukraine6.60.1

Claim types Fact

Fonte: IBGE, Produção Agrícola Municipal (PAM), SIDRA table 5457, variable 214 'Quantidade produzida', product 40124 'Soja (em grão)', tonnes, read from the IBGE SIDRA API. Mato Grosso (UF 51): 8,774,470 t (2000), 38,396,410 t (2024), 50,175,032 t (2025); Brazil: 144,473,768 t (2024), 165,259,014 t (2025). Countries: FAO, FAOSTAT domain QCL (Crops and livestock products), item 236 'Soya beans', element 'Production', tonnes, calendar-year harvests, read from the FAOSTAT API. 2024: Brazil 144,473,768; United States 118,836,440; Argentina 48,213,207; China (mainland) 20,650,000; India 15,132,082; Paraguay 11,100,256; Canada 7,568,013; Russia 7,000,000 (FAOSTAT flag X: figure from an international organisation); Ukraine 6,635,180. 2000: United States 75,055,290; Brazil 32,820,826; Argentina 20,135,800; China (mainland) 15,409,000; India 5,280,000; Paraguay 2,980,058; Canada 2,703,000; Russia 341,754; Ukraine 64,400. Both series count the harvest of the calendar year; FAOSTAT's 2024 figure for Brazil equals IBGE's exactly. 2024 is the latest year in FAOSTAT, so the chart uses 2024 for every row; 2024 was a drought year in Mato Grosso (down from 44.4 million t in 2023). The Brazil row includes Mato Grosso. Ranks, ratios (38.4/8.8 = 4.4×; China 20.65/15.41 = 1.3×) and shares (50.2/165.3 = 30%) are progrss calculations. Takeaway 3 uses 2025 IBGE data, not yet in FAOSTAT. Only Brazil, the United States and Argentina grew more soy than Mato Grosso in 2024.

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