Which country is the world’s largest producer of cocoa beans?

Côte d’Ivoire is the world’s largest producer of cocoa beans.

Côte d’Ivoire, also called Ivory Coast, has been the leading cocoa-producing country in modern global agriculture. Cocoa is a major export crop there, and millions of people in the country depend on cocoa farming and related trade for income.

Most cocoa is grown by smallholder farmers in tropical regions. The crop requires warm temperatures, rainfall, and careful management of pests and diseases. After harvest, farmers ferment and dry the beans before sale, because improperly processed beans produce poor-quality chocolate.

Ghana is another major producer, and West Africa as a whole supplies a large share of the world’s cocoa. Production rankings can change between harvest years because of weather, disease, prices, and crop conditions, but Côte d’Ivoire has held the leading position across the modern cocoa trade.