About FAO News Multimedia Main topics Statistics Members Publications

World Cotton Day | 7 October

WCD25_WebBanner_EN3
Cotton, the fabric of our lives.

Cotton touches us every day, it is a source of livelihoods for millions of smallholders and labourers, including women and their families, and contributes significantly to the economies of many developing countries. 

The World Cotton Day is an excellent opportunity to renew our commitment to enhancing the sustainability of the cotton sector and bring it to the forefront of the global agenda. 

Tuesday, 7 October 2025, 9:00 hours (CEST)
FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy | Webcast

World Cotton Day 2025  - The Fabric of our Lives
Organized jointly by the Republic of Chad, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the International Trade Centre (ITC)

Celebration of World Cotton Day (WCD) will take place on Tuesday, 7 October 2025 at FAO Headquarters.

This year’s celebration will showcase the many opportunities within the cotton sector, highlighting its vital role in fostering international trade and inclusive economic growth. Discussions will focus on boosting productivity at all levels, advancing innovative strategies for adding value along the value chain, and reinforcing the power of trade to support a better future for all.

The programme will include two segments designed to inspire action and showcase innovation:

Voices of the Next Generation: Transforming Cotton into Design will feature short presentations and live interventions from young designers, students, and entrepreneurs reimagining cotton through creative and innovative applications, from concept to finished product.

From Field to Fashion: Local Cotton Transformation in West Africa will highlight the cultural richness and potential of cotton in West African producing countries, while exploring how artisanal processing can drive locally led development of the sector.

View the World Cotton Day 2025 | Provisional Programme

Celebrating cotton

Cotton is a culture, a way of life, and a tradition with its roots at the heart of human civilization. In August 2021, the General Assembly of the United Nations recognised the unique benefits of cotton by proclaiming 7 October of each year as World Cotton Day. The objective of this global celebration is to raise the visibility of the cotton sector and awareness of the critical role that it plays in economic development, international trade and poverty alleviation.

Cotton is the most important of the natural fibres, used daily in apparel and home furnishings. Cotton is a critical means of livelihood for millions of smallholders and their families by providing employment and income. It represents an important source of export revenues for some of the poorest countries in the world. The World Cotton Day offers a unique opportunity to renew the commitment to a sustainable cotton sector for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.

Key messages

Cotton is an important means of livelihood for millions of smallholders, workers and their families, providing employment and income.
Cotton exports represent an important source of foreign exchange earnings for a number of low-income countries, helping to cover their food import bills.
Cotton demand has declined over the past decades while synthetic fibres have seen substantial growth due to their lower cost of production and versatility.
Weather shocks, supply chain disruptions, rising competition from synthetics, shifting regulatory frameworks, and frequent changes in consumer preferences are among the key challenges that cotton faces—and must be addressed—if the sector is to realize its full potential.
The cotton sector, at all levels of the value chain, represents a way to address wider development concerns by promoting sustainable livelihoods, empowering women, boosting youth employment, and ensuring decent work for all.
The sector needs to transform to achieve greater efficiency, inclusiveness, resilience, and sustainability—through science and innovation, research, digitalization, better governance, and targeted investments.
Value addition—including local manufacturing and by-product development—can help unlock cotton’s economic potential by boosting job creation and increasing returns.
A rules-based, non-discriminatory, open, fair, inclusive, predictable, and transparent international cotton trading system is key to providing a livelihood to hundreds of millions of vulnerable people around the globe.
The cotton sector also needs greater coordination across the value chain to boost efficiency, transparency, and value, including developing by-products.

Interesting facts about cotton

Where is cotton grown?

Cotton is grown in subtropical and seasonally
dry tropical areas in both the northern
and southern hemispheres.

World cotton volume

In 2024, world production of cotton was estimated at 26 million tonnes, with more than 9 million tonnes traded.

World cotton value

The value of global cotton production is estimated at over USD 75 billion annually, while world trade in cotton amounts to approximately
USD 20 billion annually.

 

Key world traders

In 2024, Brazil and the United States of America were the world’s largest cotton exporters, while Bangladesh and Viet Nam were the largest importers.

Cotton demand

Demand for cotton is mainly driven by the
demand for textiles and depends on its
competitive position with respect
to synthetic fibres.

Cotton’s market share

Cotton’s share of global fibre consumption declined from 60 percent in the 1960s to
22 percent in 2024, while synthetic fibres have
seen substantial growth.

Cotton mill-use outlook

Global use of cotton is expected to rise over the next decade, driven by growing textile demand, with Asia as the main processing hub.

Cotton and women

Women account for an estimated 43 percent of the labour force in cotton production, playing a vital role in tasks such as planting and harvesting—particularly in Africa and Asia.

Did you know?

The top five cotton-producing countries are China, India, Brazil, the United States of America, and Pakistan, which together account for more than three-quarters of global production.
Cotton sustains about 24 million growers and benefits over 100 million families globally.

Cotton is the second-most used fibre globally after polyester, making up approximately 20 percent of total fibre demand.

Approximately 80 percent of cotton is used in apparel, with the remainder used in home textiles and industrial products.

Why is World Cotton Day important?

World Cotton Day (WCD) acknowledges the historical and economic significance of cotton, recognizing the livelihoods and subsistence it provides for millions and its broader economic and social impact worldwide. It helps raise awareness about the challenges and opportunities within the sector, particularly for low-income countries, while underscoring the sector’s relevance to achieving the 2030 Agenda. WCD serves as a valuable opportunity to renew our commitment to fostering a sustainable cotton sector for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.

 

Publications

OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2025-2034 - Chapter 9 (Cotton)
2025

This chapter describes market developments and medium-term projections for world cotton markets for the period 2025-34. Projections cover consumption, production, trade and prices for cotton.

OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2025-2034
2025

The Agricultural Outlook 2025–2034 is a collaborative effort of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. It brings together the commodity, policy, and country expertise of both organisations, as well as input from collaborating member countries, to provide an annual assessment of the prospects for the coming decade of national, regional, and global agricultural commodity markets.

Gender dimension in the Cotton Sector: characterising the role of women
2023

Cotton is an important source of livelihood for millions of smallholders worldwide and women contribute significantly to cotton farming, constituting a large share of the workforce involved in primary production. However, women face disproportionate barriers along the cotton value chain in terms of access to land, inputs and services that affect the quality of their participation and the benefit they can derive.


Multimedia

World Cotton Day 2025 – Cotton, the Fabric of Our Lives
06/10/2025

Farmed, weaved and brought to us in diverse forms, cotton is the world's most widely used natural fibre.

World Cotton Day 2025: The Fabric of Our Lives (General recording)
07/10/2025

Join us as we celebrate the many opportunities within the cotton sector, highlighting its vital role in fostering international trade and inclusive economic growth.

Celebrating African cotton and fashion on World Cotton Day
07/10/2025

For this World Cotton Day, celebrated on 7 October 2025, FAO partnered with Nigerien African fashion designer Alphadi and the Roman fashion institute – Accademia di Costume e Moda – to celebrate African cotton and fashion.


News

Artisans from Bolivia and Paraguay keep culture alive and transform cotton into art
07/10/2025
Indigenous farmer and artisan María Posiva, 65 years old, lives in the municipality of San Antonio de Lomerío, in Bolivia, where spinning is part of her DNA. She learned to work with cotton at the age of 10 with her grandmother. Belonging to the Chiquitano people, María recalls that cotton has been present in her life since childhood, when her family cultivated it to make their own clothes. “Craft is an art”, she says.
From cotton farming to rural digitalization: South-south cooperation transforms lives
12/09/2025
With only five years left to achieve the United Nations 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals, the world faces a complex scenario where climate crises, economic and social tensions, and a widening digital divide intersect. Extreme poverty and hunger still affect millions of people, while in many countries, debt burdens limit investment in health, education, and other essential services.
Genetic Improvement: A Key Tool for Revitalizing Cotton in Latin America
22/07/2025
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Brazilian Cooperation Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (ABC), within the framework of the +Cotton project of the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation Program, held the virtual meeting “More Cotton, More Seeds: Structuring a National Cotton Breeding Program” on July 10.


Photo galleries

World Cotton Day 2025
06/10/2025

World Cotton Day 2025 – The Fabric of our Lives was celebrated on Tuesday, 7 October 2025, at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy, and webcast globally.

"Weaving a better future" - Cotton event celebrating World Cotton Day
06/10/2022

Weaving a better future for cotton" event celebrating World Cotton Day. (Green Room) FAO headquarters.


Partners