Summary of World Food and Agricultural Statistics 2003
NEW 16.07.2004

This report shows a broad range of statistics pertaining to world food and agriculture. It presents, where appropriate, the differences between developed and developing countries, continents and regions. It is hoped that managers and policy-makers dealing with international issues relating to food and agriculture will find the tables useful. The tables are organized in sections covering agriculture macroeconomic indicators, population and labour force, land use and agricultural inputs, water resources and irrigation, agricultural production and trade, forestry production and trade, fishery production and trade, food nutrition and food security. The figures given refer to the most recent period for which data are available and, where relevant, for selected benchmark periods to allow analysis of trends over time.

The Food Balance Sheets 1998-2000 now available on the web ( June 2002)

The FAO Food Balance Sheets (FBS) present three-year averaged data on both food supply and utilization.These data are primarily in physical weight; however, supply dataare shown as kilograms per caput, per year, and are convertedto calories, protein and fat, per day. This nutritional breakdownmakes the information extremely useful for further analysis andelaboration. The publication also contains time series for foodsupply, expressed in kilograms per year, and in calories, proteinand fat, per day. The FAO Food balance sheets are a valuablesupplement to two major statistical publications, the FAO Production Yearbook and the FAO Trade Yearbook, as the productionand trade statistics are presented in the supply/utilization setting.

This publication is a vital key in understanding the dimensions of malnutrition and hunger in the world.