USDA Honey Outlook Report: U.S. Demand for Honey Hits All-Time High

The USDA has published its annual Honey Outlook Report, and the news is overwhelmingly positive. The United States is the second largest honey consumer behind China, according to the latest data available from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 2019. And in 2021, consumption reached a new record high of 618 million pounds, up 8 percent from the previous year.

The previous record was 596 million pounds in 2017. Between 1991 and 2021, the average rate of growth has been 10.7 million pounds per year. This translates to about 1.9 pounds per capita of honey consumption in 2021 compared with 1.2 pounds per capita in the early 1990s. The growth in demand, in part due to the growing population, has also been attributed to consumers’ association of honey as a “superfood”—along with garlic, ginger and turmeric—and perception of honey being a healthy sweetener.

According to the Honey Outlook Report, the national average price paid to honey producers in 2021 was $2.54 per pound, up from last year’s $2.10. This is now the highest price, surpassing 2018’s record-high price of $2.21. Prices in 2021 were higher than 2020 by 23 to 28 percent in the top 3 producing states and by 8 percent in the rest of the states. Read the full report here.