Pesticides are a key agricultural input needed to protect seeds and safeguard crops from unwanted plants, insects, bacteria, fungi and rodents. At the same time, pesticides can have negative health and environmental impacts through contamination of soil, water and non-target plants and animals, which can decrease biodiversity and harm living organisms including humans. Statistics of pesticides use and trade are relevant for monitoring the sustainability of agriculture. In particular, they can help assess the global movement of pesticides and identify possible shortcomings in access to markets. The FAOSTAT Pesticides Use database contains data on pesticides use by country, in active ingredients and by major pesticide category, currently for the period 1990–2023.

Main findings:

• Total pesticides use in agriculture in 2023 was 3.73 million tonnes of active ingredients (Mt), a 2 percent decrease compared with 2022, a 14 percent increase in a decade, and a doubling since 1990.
• Pesticides use per area of cropland in 2023 was 2.40 kg per hectare.
• In 2023, the volume of total pesticides exports (used here as a proxy for trade) decreased by 3 percent compared with 2022 to 6.7 Mt of formulated products, and their value decreased by 12 percent to USD 42.8 billion.
• The Americas imported the highest amounts of pesticides from other regions of the world in 2023 (1.97 Mt), just ahead of Europe (1.96 Mt).
• Asia exported the most pesticides to other regions with quantities and values of 2.4 Mt and USD 11.4 billion in 2023.
• Most of Africa’s pesticides imports come from countries outside the region, and the majority of exported pesticides remain in the region.
• Europe’s application of pesticides was slightly above the world average on a per hectare (1.59 kg/ha), per value of agriculture (0.91 g/I$), and per person (0.65 kg/cap) basis.
• In 2023, Oceania applied the highest levels of pesticides per hectare of cropland (5.64 kg/ha), per value of agricultural production (2.55 g/I$) and per person (2.44 kg/cap).
• Azole-based antimicrobial fungicides contributed to 9 percent of total fungicides and bactericides across all available countries (64).