Honey in numbers

The world

The number of managed bee colonies in the world is rising. According to a study in Scientific Reports based on FAO data, there were 85% more colonies in 2017 than in 1961, and honey production almost tripled, from 675,000 to 1.9 million tonnes. By 2023 the number of colonies had grown to about 102 million.

India keeps the most colonies, followed by China, Türkiye and Iran. Yet the yield per colony varies many times over between countries. Chinese beekeepers take around 49 kg of honey from a colony, Indian ones under 6 kg. The difference comes from the bee species (India also keeps the smaller Asian honey bee), beekeeping methods, harvesting unripe honey and the way each country counts its colonies.

Bee colonies in the world (millions)

1990: Destatis based on FAO; 2017: FAOSTAT via Phiri et al. (2022); 2019–2023: report of the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture TEPGE (2025) based on FAOSTAT. FAO data are revised retrospectively; earlier editions give figures 1–2% different. Dashed: years without data.

Countries with the most bee colonies (2023)

India12,660,000

China9,442,700

Türkiye9,225,000

Iran8,342,700

Ethiopia6,610,100

Spain3,202,500

Tanzania3,060,000

Russia3,048,600

United States2,870,600

FAOSTAT (item Beehives) via the Reportlinker overview; Türkiye from the national statistics office TÜİK.

Average honey yield per colony (kg, 2023)

China49.1 kg

World18.6 kg

Ethiopia12.8 kg

Türkiye12.45 kg

Iran9.6 kg

India5.6 kg

Calculated from honey production (FAO 2023) and colony numbers (FAOSTAT 2023); Türkiye and the world average directly from the TEPGE report.

Czechia

There are roughly eight and a half colonies per square kilometre of Czechia (669,445 colonies on 78,871 km² in 2023). Most beekeepers, however, are hobbyists with a few hives. The average Czech beekeeper keeps about ten colonies, and there are only around 120 professional operations with more than 150 colonies.

After 1990 the numbers of beekeepers and colonies fell for a long time, reaching their lowest point around 2008. Then the trend reversed and the numbers rose again. The number of colonies peaked at over 715,000 in 2022. After hard winters and the spread of varroosis it fell again: by September 2025 there were just under 600,000, according to the Czech Beekeepers’ Association.

The harvest varies mainly with the weather. The record year was 2011, with more than 11,000 tonnes of honey, and the weakest 2020, with under 5,000. The average yield per colony in 2015–2018 was around 15 kg. The average member of the Czech Beekeepers’ Association is almost 59 years old.

Bee colonies in Czechia

Czech Ministry of Agriculture, Bee situation and outlook reports (2011, 2019, 2021, 2023); 1993–2017 from the records of the Czech Beekeepers’ Association, from 2018 from the central register. 2024: as of 1 September. Dashed: years without data.

Beekeepers in Czechia

Honey production in Czechia (tonnes)

Czech Ministry of Agriculture and Czech Statistical Office; 2025 according to the Ministry of Agriculture (Agrarian Chamber). Years without a reliable figure are omitted.

Average yield per colony in Czechia (kg)

Czech Ministry of Agriculture, Bee situation and outlook reports 2011 and 2019.

A comparison of the EU member states will be added once comparable figures for all states from a single source are available.

The world

Czechia

Sources