- Over 100 countries grow cotton (Source: ICAC, 2007)
- Cotton is grown between latitudes 45°N and 35°S (Source: ICAC, 2007)
- Cotton comprises 40 per cent of the world fibre market (Source: ICAC, 2007)
- An estimated 350 million people are engaged in cotton production either on-farm or in transportation, ginning, baling and storage (Source: ICAC, 2005)
- 36 million hectares were sown to cotton in 2006/07 (Source: ICAC, 2007)
- 119 million bales were produced worldwide in 2006/07 (Source: ICAC, 2007)
- In 2006/07 China, USA, India, Pakistan and Brazil accounted for 77 per cent of the world’s cotton production (Source: ICAC, 2007)
- Other significant cotton producers include Uzbekistan, Australia and nations from the Middle East and West Africa (Source: ICAC, 2007)
- Many developing countries rely on cotton as a major export revenue source and include Burkina Faso, Benin, Uzbekistan, Mali, Tajikistan, Cote D’Ivoire, Kazakhstan, Egypt and Syria (Source: ICAC, 2007)
- China consumes over 40 per cent of the world’s raw cotton (Source: ICAC, 2007)
- In 2005/06 the world cotton price (Cotlook A Index) averaged US$0.56 cents per pound, up US$0.04c from 2004/05 (Source: ICAC, 2006)
- In 2006/07 world cotton yield reached a record 747 kilograms per hectare, up 17 kilograms from 2005/06 (Source: ICAC, 2007)
- World cotton mill use increased from 18.9 million tonnes in 1998/99 to 26.3 million tonnes in 2006/07 (Source: ICAC 2007)
- Between 1998/99 and 2004/05 world cotton demand increased rapidly by four per cent each year (Source: ICAC, 2005)
- Developing countries such as China and India are largely responsible for the rapid increases in cotton end use as their consumers accelerate retail spending (Source: ICAC, 2005)
