The global pesticide market is expanding steadily, but the use of modern pesticides that are safe for vertebrates, are now harming pollinating insects. As areas under cultivation continue to increase worldwide, thereby enhancing the potential further use of pesticides, the market may yet encounter environmental constraints in the future. 

Key Trends and Insights

According to IndexBox estimates, the global pesticide market increased from 8.5M tonnes to 11.5M tonnes from 2008 to 2020 (with a CAGR of 2.6%). China appeared as the largest consumer of pesticides (2.3M tonnes), followed by the U.S. (1.3M tonnes) and India (911K tonnes).

Agricultural development and the expansion of areas under cultivation, against an increasing worldwide population and the heightened demand for food products will further boost the pesticide market, set to reach 14М tonnes by 2030.

According to the FAO estimates Brazil demonstrated the most prominent growth in pesticide consumption over the past 25 years (+770%) owing to the rapidly developing agriculture sector. In 2020, the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture approved 290 new substances, including fipronil and glyphosate, which are both banned in the European Union. In this regard, further expansion of the Brazilian pesticide market is expected in the coming years.

The USA is currently seeing a trend that indicates reduced amounts of pesticides used. Instead, more powerful chemicals like imidacloprid, which is one of the most widely applied pesticide treatments worldwide, are now being applied. In comparison with the organophosphate and carbamate-base pesticides that were used previously, contemporary alternatives are proving to be 95% less toxic to mammals and birds, but more harmful to insects. Presumably, this was one of the reasons for the declines in the population of bees in the United States over the 2018-2020 period. This mass decline in the bee population was also being observed in other countries, such as Brazil and Russia.

A declining bee population threatens to reduce the harvest yield of key crops worldwide (including berries, apples, cacao, sunflowers, rapeseed, coconuts, cotton, and oil palms). This potentially may lead to food shortages and become a hampering factor for increased use of pesticides.

The European Union maintains the most stringent control over pesticide use: here the use of pesticides that have proved toxic to insects (such as imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam) is restricted or banned. The toxicity issue will be a constraint in terms of the European pesticide market in the medium term; a moderate increase, therefore, in the consumption of these products in the EU is forecast.

Global Pesticide Production

In 2020, global pesticide production reached 11M tonnes, standing approx. at 2019. The total output volume increased at an average annual rate of +2.7% over the period from 2012 to 2020. In value terms, pesticide production amounted to $65.9B in 2020 estimated at export prices. The total output value increased at an average annual rate of +1.7% from 2012 to 2020; the trend pattern remained relatively stable, with somewhat noticeable fluctuations being observed in certain years.

China (3.8M tonnes) constituted the country with the largest volume of pesticide production, accounting for 34% of the total volume. Moreover, pesticide production in China exceeded the figures recorded by the second-largest producer, the U.S. (1.6M tonnes), twofold. India (1.2M tonnes) ranked third in terms of total production with a 10% share.

In China, pesticide production expanded at an average annual rate of +4.3% over the period from 2012-2020. The remaining producing countries recorded the following average annual rates of production growth: the U.S. (+1.3% per year) and India (+5.4% per year).

Global Pesticide Imports

In 2020, supplies from abroad of pesticides decreased by -2% to 5M tonnes, falling for the third consecutive year after two years of growth. The total import volume increased at an average annual rate of +2.9% from 2012 to 2020. In value terms, pesticide imports dropped to $28.8B in 2020. Overall, imports, however, continue to indicate a relatively flat trend pattern.

The purchases of the twelve major importers of pesticides, namely Brazil, Canada, Australia, France, the U.S., Nigeria, India, the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany and Indonesia, represented more than a third of total import. Belgium (105K tonnes) followed a long way behind the leaders.

In value terms, the largest pesticide importing markets worldwide were Brazil ($2.9B), France ($1.6B) and Canada ($1.4B), together accounting for 21% of global imports. The U.S., Spain, India, Italy, Germany, Australia, the UK, Belgium, Indonesia and Nigeria lagged somewhat behind, together accounting for a further 26%.

Source: IndexBox AI Platform