According to the Council of Agriculture, the number of betel palms planted in Taiwan began to increase continuously from around 1980. Over a 20-year period, the area under cultivation grew from under 2,000 hectares to a peak of 56,000 hectares in 1996. Meanwhile, annual production climbed from 16,000 tons to 160,000 tons, and production value soared from around NT $ 100 million to more than NT $ 13 billion.
據農委會統計，台灣種植檳榔從 1980 年前後開始持續成長，20 年間從不到 2 千公頃增加到高峰期（1996 年）的 5 萬 6,000 公頃，一年產量從 1 萬 6,000 公噸成長到 16 萬公噸，產值則從一億多元飆升到一百三十多億。