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Bananas

Commodity in focus

Bananas are among the most produced, traded and consumed fruits globally. More than 1 000 varieties of bananas exist in the world, and they each provide vital nutrients to populations in producing and importing countries alike. The most traded variety is the Cavendish banana, which accounts for just under half of global production and has an estimated annual production volume of 50 million tonnes. Bananas are particularly significant in some of the least-developed, low-income, food-deficit countries, where they can contribute not only to household food security as a staple but also to income generation as a cash crop.

World banana trade has recorded comparatively high levels of around 20 million tonnes per annum in recent years. Key drivers of trade include supply growth in both leading and emerging export countries, as well as ample global import demand. However, increasingly erratic and adverse weather conditions, rising costs of production, tight producer margins, and the spread of plant pests and diseases are causing severe concern to the industry.

Current releases
Banana Market Review - Preliminary results 2024
10/01/2025

The Banana Market Review Preliminary Results are issued on an annual basis to Members and Observers of the Sub-Group on Bananas of the Intergovernmental...

Banana Market Review 2023
26/08/2024

The Banana Market Review is issued on an annual basis to Members and Observers of the Sub-Group on Bananas of the Intergovernmental Group on Bananas...

More Publications
Food Outlook - September 2000
04/09/2000

Latest indications continue to point to increased cereal output in 2000, although the growth will be lower than expected earlier. This reaffirms earlier forecasts that total cereal production will not be sufficient to meet expected utilization requirements in 2000/01, causing global cereal reserves to be drawn down. FAO’s latest forecast for cereal production in 2000 is 1 881 million tonnes, up 0.3 percent on last year. Output of wheat is forecast at 587 million tonnes, down by 0.4 percent from the previous year, while that of coarse grains is seen to rise by 1.6 percent to 896 million tonnes. The forecast for the global rice crop in 2000 remains unchanged, at 398 million tonnes (milled basis), 1.3 percent less than the record crop last year. Food supply difficulties persist in many developing countries. As of end-August, the number of developing countries facing serious food difficulties worldwide stands at 36, unchanged from June. Additionally, however, there are several other countries affected by serious but localized disasters, mainly floods and droughts. World trade in cereals is expected to expand further in 2000/01, to 232 million tonnes, 2 million tonnes above the estimated volume in 1999/2000. Global trade in coarse grains is forecast to increase while trade in wheat may decline marginally. Cereal export prices remained weak during most of the past three months. However, wheat and coarse grain prices began to recover in late August mostly in response to less favourable crop prospects in some countries and strong import demand. A gradual tightening of world meat supplies is pushing up prices in 2000. Limited use of export programmes will likely constrain trade growth to only 1 percent with developing countries set to capture all of the growth in meat exports. During 1999/2000, prices for oils and fats declined further due to record global supplies, while oilmeal prices started to strengthen again due to a tightening supply/demand situation. The 2000/01 season is likely to be characterized by expanding meal production and contracting oils and fats output.

Food Outlook - June 2000
05/06/2000

Latest indications continue to point to a larger cereal output in 2000. However, based on the current forecasts, total cereal production would not be sufficient to meet expected utilization requirements in 2000/01 and global cereal reserves would be drawn down again next season. FAO’s latest forecast puts global cereal output in 2000 at 1 896 million tonnes, up more than 1 percent from 1999. Output of wheat is forecast at 590 million tonnes, up slightly from the previous year, while that of coarse grains is seen to rise by over 3 percent to 908 million tonnes. The global rice crop is tentatively forecast at 398 million tonnes (milled basis) in 2000, 1 percent less than the record crop last year. The number of countries facing food emergencies has increased since April. As of end-May 2000, 36 developing countries face serious food shortages, primarily due to drought, but also due to civil strife and floods, particularly in Africa. FAO’s first forecast of world cereal trade in 2000/01 is 221 million tonnes, about 4 million tonnes below the estimated import volume in 1999/2000. Global imports of wheat and coarse grains are forecast to be smaller while rice trade in 2001 is tentatively expected to remain unchanged from this year. International prices for most cereals remain under pressure. For rice, a declining trend in prices continued amid ample new-crop supplies, combined with generally lack-lustre trade. Maize prices remain mostly unchanged from March but wheat edged slightly upward in May, largely influenced by weather conditions in the United States. FAO estimates world sugar production in 1999/2000 at 134.3 million tonnes, some 2 percent up from the previous year and above expected demand in the corresponding period. As a result, sugar prices declined through the first six months of the 1999/2000 season, reaching a 14-year low in late February. However, prices rebounded in the past two months, in response to a pick-up in import demand in several major markets, and early forecasts of reduced sugar output in 2000/01.

 

 

Bananas are predominantly produced in Asia, Latin America and Africa. The largest producers for domestic consumption are India and China

 

Banana cultivar diversity comprises dessert types, like the Cavendish banana, and cooking types, like plantains. Some cultivars can have dual uses.

 

Harsh methods are often used to control irrigation and plant diseases in large-scale banana production, and such production methods can carry significant negative repercussions for the environment and the health and safety of workers and local communities.

 

A serious threat to the industry continues to be Fusarium Tropical Race 4 (TR4), a fungal disease affecting banana plants. It is currently confirmed in 21 banana-producing countries. In all reported cases, once a piece of farmland is contaminated with TR4, managing the disease is challenging and costly.

 The global banana value chain is increasingly characterized by the direct downstream activities of large retail chains from the key importing countries. These chains operate independent of traditional fruit companies by sourcing bananas directly from growers and distributors.   

 

 

On average, more than 90 percent of bananas for export originate from Central and South America and the Philippines. The largest importers are the EU, the United States of America, China, the Russian Federation, and Japan. 

 

Banana export earnings help to finance food import bills, supporting the economies of major banana-producing countries.

 

Research in ten banana producing countries found that income from banana farming can account for around three-quarters of the total monthly household income of smallholder farmers. 

 

The effects of global warming are resulting in a higher occurrence of droughts, floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters. These environmental concerns render banana production increasingly difficult, uncertain and costly, and threaten to disrupt global supplies and smallholder livelihoods.