Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria among largest global wheat importers

Egypt will be the largest global wheat importer in 2024/25 (July-June) as the country recovers from a foreign exchange reserve crisis and seeks to rebuild inventories, the US department of agriculture USDA said.

“In addition to wheat milled for domestic use, Egypt is also expected to continue exporting some wheat flour to nearby countries such as Sudan. Drought conditions will necessitate larger imports in other North African countries, most notably Morocco,” USDA said in a recent report.

Algeria is expected to be the second largest wheat importer in Africa at 8.5 million tons, followed by Morocco with 7.5 million tons, while Nigeria will be the fourth largest importer at 4.8 million tons.

Global wheat production for 2024/25 is forecast at 798.2 million tons, up 10.5 million from the previous year, it said.

The top 2 producing countries China and India are each up over 3.4 million tons to record levels, spurred in part by government support programs. High wheat prices in Pakistan resulted in higher planted area, in turn yielding a larger crop, up 1.8 million tons.