FAO’s 2023 Statistical Yearbook goes live, highlighting the impact of disasters on agriculture and the cost of healthy eating
Rome – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today published its annual Statistical Yearbook, covering the latest trends in the world’s agri-food systems, highlighting for the first time the impact of disasters on agriculture and the cost and affordability of healthy diets. diet.
Drawing on the wealth of knowledge produced by FAO statisticians across the Organization, this publication offers a synthesis of the key factors influencing the global food and agriculture environment. The 2023 edition consists of well-organized data divided into four thematic sections covering the economic importance of agricultural activities; inputs, outputs and factors of production; effects on food security and nutrition; and the effects of agriculture on the environment.
The Statistical Yearbook is an essential tool and an indispensable reference for policy makers, researchers and analysts, and ordinary people interested in the past, present and future of food and agriculture.
“Timely, accurate and high-quality data and statistics are the cornerstone of sound policy design, where decisions are based on hard evidence and monitoring and evaluation are based on strong statistical systems.” José Rosero Moncayo, Director of FAO Statistics Division, said in the foreword of the publication. “This has become even more critical as governments around the world commit to major sectoral and national development plans, as well as regional and global development agendas.”
Important points
This year, the publication highlights the impact of disasters on agriculture and quantifies the magnitude of losses resulting from these events.
Data on the cost and affordability of healthy diets recently published in FAOSTAT are also showcased in this year’s edition, providing a measure of affordable access to nutritious foods and healthy diets, an important link between food security and nutrition.
Another important feature of this year’s edition is the food loss percentage. The highest rate is in Sub-Saharan Africa (almost 20 percent in 2021), and the lowest rate is in North America and Europe (9 percent). Food losses vary significantly from one region to another within the same product groups and supply chain stages.
Finally, the publication addresses structural characteristics of the agricultural sector derived from agricultural censuses, which users can now easily compare across countries and census rounds for the first time.
Important facts and figures
- Disasters are estimated to have resulted in $3.8 trillion worth of lost crop and livestock production between 1991 and 2021; This corresponds to an average loss of $123 billion per year, or 5 percent of annual global agricultural GDP. Asia suffers the greatest loss due to its overall geographic size, followed by the Americas, Europe, Africa and Oceania. While Asia has the highest loss in absolute terms, it has a relatively small impact given the size of production. On the other hand, Africa, America and Europe appear to be more affected in proportion to their agricultural sectors.
- The global estimate for the cost of a healthy diet in 2021 is 3.66 purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars per person per day, an increase of 4.3 percent compared to 2020. The cost of eating healthy has increased by more than 5 percent in all regions except the North. It reflects the rise in American and European food inflation between 2020-2021. In 2021, more than 3.1 billion people in the world, that is, 42 percent, did not have the opportunity to eat healthy.
- Global added value from agriculture, forestry and fishing increased by 84 percent in real terms between 2000 and 2021, reaching $3.7 trillion in 2021. Considering its size, Asia was the largest contributor, contributing 65 percent to the global agriculture, forestry and fisheries added value. of the world total in 2021.
- Agriculture employed approximately 873 million people, or 27 percent of the global workforce, in 2021, compared to 1,027 million, or 40 percent, in 2000.
- Global pesticide use increased by 62 percent between 2000 and 2021, with half of use in 2021 occurring in the Americas.
- From 2000 to 2021, primary crop production increased by 54 percent, reaching 9.5 billion tonnes. Four crops (sugar cane, corn, wheat and rice) accounted for half the total.
- The most traded product in terms of quantity in 2021 was grains: The largest exporters were America and Europe, and the largest importer was Asia. With just under a third of the total, cereals formed the main group of primary crops produced in 2021, followed by sugar crops (22 percent), vegetables and oil crops (12 percent each).
- Greenhouse gas emissions from agri-food systems increased by 10 percent between 2000 and 2021. Farm gate emissions account for almost half of these.
The Statistical Yearbook 2023 is available in a digital version and in a pocketbook print edition that provides a quick and easy reference to key facts and trends.
The Statistical Yearbook is just one of a number of tools and statistical publications that FAO provides to users. The freely accessible FAOSTAT data platform contains the largest statistical database on food and agriculture in the world, with approximately 20,000 indicators covering more than 245 countries and territories and approximately 2 million views each year.