Bananas rank as a leading crop in world agricultural production and trade. In response to fast population growth in producing countries as well as expanding global import demand, the crop has seen rapidly increasing production and trade volumes in recent decades. Since the bulk of banana cultivation is conducted informally by smallholder farmers, precise figures on global banana production are, however, difficult to obtain. Available estimates indicate that average global banana production rose from 69 million tonnes in 2000-2002 to 115 million tonnes in 2017-2019, at an approximate value of 40 billion USD (FAOSTAT 2019).
Based on 2019 figures, the global banana export industry generates around 13.5 billion USD per year (FAOSTAT 2019). However, it is important to note that only around 18 percent of the total global banana production is traded in the international market; the rest is consumed locally, most importantly in large producing countries such as India, China, and Brazil, and in some African countries where bananas contribute largely to people’s diets.
