Hundreds of millions of people around the world eat insects as a regular part of their diet. The often-cited figure of “2 billion people” turns out to be an overestimate from a widely shared 2013 UN report, but the true number is still enormous. If you count every country where at least some portion of the population eats insects, roughly a third of the global population lives in a place where entomophagy (insect eating) is practiced. The reality is that insect consumption is deeply normal in much of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and relatively new everywhere else.
Where Insects Are Everyday Food
Southeast Asia is one of the world’s hotspots. In Thailand and Laos, local markets sell a wide variety of insect species, from crickets to water bugs to bamboo worms. In a village just north of Vientiane, Laos, researchers observed many different species being harvested, cooked, and sold at market as routine food items. Thailand has developed a particularly large cricket farming industry that supplies both domestic kitchens and export markets.
China and India both have regional traditions of insect eating, though practices vary enormously within each country. In parts of southern China, silkworm pupae and bee larvae are common dishes. India’s northeastern states have long traditions of consuming silkworms, red ants, and various larvae. Because these two countries are so populous, including them in any global estimate immediately pushes the numbers into the billions.
Sub-Saharan Africa has some of the highest consumption rates anywhere. In the Central African Republic, an estimated 95% of people living in forested areas eat caterpillars. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, 70% of surveyed residents reported eating caterpillars. In southern Cameroon, 87% of the population named grasshoppers as food. In Malawi, 86% of people surveyed in the capital Lilongwe and surrounding rural areas consumed termites, with caterpillars, grasshoppers, and lake flies also popular. In parts of southwest Congo, average consumption reached about 2.4 kilograms of insects per month.
In Latin America, Mexico stands out. Oaxaca is famous for chapulines: grasshoppers toasted on a flat iron griddle and seasoned with garlic, lime, salt, and chiles. They add crunch to tacos and tlayudas (Oaxacan-style flatbread pizzas), or get served as bar snacks alongside beer. Another Mexican delicacy is escamoles, ant eggs sometimes called “the caviar of the desert,” typically served with guacamole. In the northwest Amazon, insects contribute 5 to 7% of total protein intake across the year for indigenous communities, spiking to 12 to 26% during peak harvesting months.
Where Insect Eating Is Rare or New
In Europe, Australia, and North America, insect consumption has historically been limited to a handful of indigenous groups and isolated regional traditions. One example is casu marzu in Sardinia, a cheese deliberately infested with insect larvae. In the United States, Canada, and most of Western Europe, insects are still a novelty food rather than a staple, though that’s shifting as protein bars, cricket flour, and roasted snacks appear in grocery stores.
Younger generations in some traditionally insect-eating cultures are also moving away from the practice. In Oyo state, Nigeria, 45% of young people surveyed said they had eaten insects in the past but no longer did, while 25% still ate them. Urbanization and the influence of Western food culture play a role in this shift.
Which Insects People Eat
The most commonly consumed insects worldwide are beetles, caterpillars, termites, ants, grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets. Beetles alone account for a large share of the roughly 2,000 species known to be eaten globally. Caterpillars dominate in Central and Southern Africa. Grasshoppers and crickets are favorites in Southeast Asia and Mexico. Termites are widely eaten across sub-Saharan Africa, often collected during swarming season and roasted or dried.
For commercial farming, the list narrows. Crickets, locusts, grasshoppers, and mealworms are the species most commonly raised at scale because they grow quickly, tolerate crowded conditions, and convert feed efficiently.
Nutritional Value Compared to Meat
Insects generally pack more protein per 100 grams than conventional meat. They also tend to carry more fat, ranging from about 4 to 25 grams per 100 grams depending on the species, compared to 0.7 to 18 grams for common meats. Iron content varies wildly: some insect larvae contain just 2 milligrams per 100 grams, while mopane worm larvae reach over 50 milligrams, making them one of the most iron-dense foods on the planet. Vitamin B12 levels in insects are generally modest.
The protein quality is comparable to animal protein, with a full range of essential amino acids. For communities in Central Africa and the Amazon where insects are dietary staples, they fill a protein gap that would otherwise require meat, fish, or expensive imported foods.
Environmental Advantages
Insects require far less feed to produce the same amount of food. House crickets convert feed into edible weight at a ratio of about 2.3 to 1, matching poultry and dramatically outperforming beef, which needs 8.8 kilograms of feed per kilogram of edible product. When it comes to protein specifically, insects are even more efficient: yellow mealworms and crickets convert 22 to 58% of dietary protein into edible protein, compared to just 12% for beef and 33% for chicken.
The climate footprint reflects this efficiency. Producing one kilogram of insect protein generates roughly 4 to 7 kilograms of CO2 equivalent. One kilogram of beef produces about 35 kilograms of CO2 equivalent, making insect protein five to nine times less carbon-intensive. Water use for mealworm protein is lower than for beef and pork, though higher than for chicken or fish.
Allergy Risks to Know About
If you’re allergic to shellfish, you should approach edible insects with caution. Insects and crustaceans share a muscle protein called tropomyosin that triggers the same immune response. People with dust mite allergies may also react to insects for the same reason. This cross-reactivity is well documented, and allergic reactions after eating insects range from mild to severe. The connection makes biological sense: insects, crustaceans, and dust mites are all arthropods and share a surprising amount of molecular machinery.
A Growing Global Market
The commercial edible insect market was valued at about $1.77 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $10.49 billion by 2035, growing at roughly 19.5% per year. Much of this growth comes from processed insect products like protein powders, energy bars, and animal feed rather than whole insects sold at market stalls. In the EU, specific insect species have been approved for sale as food in recent years, opening up a regulated market. In the United States and Canada, insect-specific food regulations are still catching up. Federal rules historically treated insects as contaminants rather than ingredients, and the regulatory landscape remains uncertain for companies trying to scale up.