Infographic | Biggest chilli producers in the world

Chilli prices were up by 50% year-on-year in September, despite reduced demand from China, India's biggest chilli importer

The price of chillies has seen a recent uptick in India owing to crop failures due to heavy rain and high domestic demand, which have combined to cause a shortage.

According to a report by Moneycontrol, prices were up by 50 per cent year-on-year in September, despite reduced demand from China, the biggest importer of chillies from India.

According to the report, excess rainfall last year led to widespread pest attacks, causing a shortage in chilli output in the last harvest in early 2022, and traders expressed concern at the insufficient supply of quality chillies, which has affected exports.

According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, India remained the top producer of dry chillies in 2020, with the country producing over 17 lakh tonnes of the spice. It was followed by Thailand, which produced a vastly smaller 3.22 lakh tonnes, with China on third position with 3.07 lakh tonnes produced in 2020.

Data for 2021 remains unavailable, likely due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on global food production and data collection.

Retail inflation for farm and rural workers eased marginally to 7.22 per cent and 7.34 per cent, respectively, in October compared to September 2022, mainly due to lower prices of certain food items.

Food inflation stood at 7.05 per cent and 7 per cent in October 2022 compared to 7.47 per cent & 7.52 per cent respectively in September 2022 and 0.39 per cent & 0.59 per cent respectively during the corresponding month of the previous year.

With agency inputs