Most of the chickpea production is concentrated in Central Anatolia in the vicinity of the cities of Ankara, Yozgat, Kirshehir, Konya, Karaman and Chorum. In 2022, 580.0 thousand tons of chickpeas were produced in Turkey, which is 22.1% more than in 2021.
In 2018-2022, the volume of production decreased by an average of 2.0% per year. The decrease in the chickpea harvest in 2021 is due to a reduction in sown area by 6.3% to 487.9 thousand hectares. As a result, exports of dried chickpeas decreased by 25.2% in 2022. At the same time, the export Turkey's dried chickpeas have more than doubled over the past 10 years: from 90 thousand tons in 2013 to 183.3 thousand tons in 2022.
In 2022, chickpea consumption in Turkey amounted to 522.8 thousand tons, an increase of 37.4% compared to 2021. Annual reduction in consumption for 2018-2022 it was 4.4%. Most of the dried chickpeas produced were consumed by households. Chickpeas are consumed mainly as an ingredient in hummus, falafel, as well as in soups and other dishes. In 2022, the share of consumption of dried chickpeas in food amounted to about 84.1% of the total consumption of chickpeas in Turkey. Seed use accounted for 13.4% of the total in 2022. The annual loss of dried chickpeas is about 2.5%.
Turkey Chickpea Imports
In 2022, Turkey's chickpea imports amounted to 126.0 thousand tons by 119.9 million US dollars, which is 16.3% (-24.6 thousand tons) less than in 2021 in volume and 2.9% (-3.5 million US dollars) in value. For 2018-2022, Turkish chickpea imports on average annually increased by 2.8% in weight and decreased by 0.5% in value.
In the structure of Turkish chickpea imports in volume by the end of 2022, Russia took the leading position, supplying 64.7 thousand tons of products to Turkey, which accounted for 51.3% of the country's chickpea imports. Mexico took the second place with a share of 16.5%. Canada is in third position with a share of 8.6%. India and Bulgaria supplied 3.9 and 2.7 thousand tons of chickpeas to Turkey, respectively.
Over the year, Turkey increased purchases of chickpeas from Canada by 21.0% (+1.9 thousand tons) and Kazakhstan by 22.8% (+1.6 thousand tons), while reducing imports from Mexico by 41.9% (-15.0 thousand tons) and Russia by 19.2% (-15.4 thousand tons). Russia has also been the main exporter of chickpeas to Turkey in value terms since 2022, supplying $46.7 million worth of chickpeas (39.0% of Turkish imports). Mexico (26.0%) and Canada (9.7%) also entered the top three suppliers of chickpeas to Turkey in value terms. The volume of supplies of Russian chickpeas decreased by 2.7% compared to 2021. Imports of chickpeas from Mexico decreased by 31.8%, amounting to 31.2 million US dollars. The largest increase in exports in 2022 compared to the previous year was shown by Canada, which increased supplies by 60.9% or 4.4 million US dollars, as well as India, which supplied Turkey with 12.9 times or 5.1 million US dollars more chickpeas than in 2021.
In 2022, the average import price of chickpeas increased by 16.1% to $952 per ton. The most expensive products were supplied from Mexico at a price of 1,502 US dollars per ton, which is 57.9% higher than the average import price. India (51.8% higher than the average price) and the USA (32.8% higher) also supplied more expensive products. The cheapest products were purchased in Kazakhstan — US$ 788 per ton (17.2% lower than the average price) and Russia — US$ 723 per ton (24.1% lower).
