According to preliminary data from the National Institute of Statistics and the Ministry of Rural Development and Land, Bolivia devoted 60,298 hectares to the production of bananas and plantains for cooking in the 2015-2016 agricultural year. The country had 19,837 hectares of bananas and 40,461 hectares of plantain for cooking.
In the 1998-1999 crop year, Bolivia had 39,093 hectares of bananas and plantains for cooking; between that crop year and the 2015-2016 crop year, the area increased by 21,205 hectares, i.e. 54%.
The area devoted to banana crops increased by 9,608 hectares in this period, as it went from 10,229 hectares in 1998-1999 to 19,837 hectares in 2015-2016. while the area devoted for the cultivation of plantains increased by 11,597 hectares, from 28,864 hectares to 40,461 hectares.
The increase in acreage helped increase the country's consumption of bananas and plantains and also had a significant impact on increasing exports, primarily from the Tropic of Cochabamba. Banana production yields are higher than plantain production yields. Plantain production is intended for domestic consumption.
In 2000, Bolivia exported 8,773 metric tons of bananas worth 1.1 million dollars. In 2016, the country's export volume amounted to 121,544 metric tons worth US $35.4 millions. In those 17 years, Bolivian banana export volumes increased by almost 14 times, while the value of these exports grew by 33 times. The main destination countries were Argentina, Chile, and Germany.
