Answer & explanation
The official answer, with Fermi’s reasoning step by step.
Answer & explanation
Official answer
29,700,000
metric tons
How to estimate it
Fermi’s official “Napkin math”
Start with everyone on Earth, about 8 billion people. How much garlic does one person get through? Plenty eat none, but kitchens across Asia use loads. Call it a bulb a week, and a bulb is about 50 grams.
- World population
- 8,000,000,000
- A bulb a week, 50 g × 52
- ≈ 2.6 kg each
- 8B × 2.6 kg
- ≈ 21,000,000 t
Start with everyone on Earth, about 8 billion people. How much garlic does one person get through? Plenty eat none, but kitchens across Asia use loads. Call it a bulb a week, and a bulb is about 2 ounces.
- World population
- 8,000,000,000
- A bulb a week, 2 oz × 52
- ≈ 6.5 lb each
- 8B × 6.5 lb ÷ 2,000
- ≈ 26,000,000 tons
Rounded assumptions may give a slightly different estimate. The official answer above is the game’s reference value.
Source calculation & reference
- World garlic harvest, 2024 (FAOSTAT)
- 29,690,764 t
- Of which China
- ≈ 21.6M t (73%)
- Rounded
- ≈ 29,700,000
Reference cited by Fermi: FAOSTAT (UN FAO), 2024
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