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Markets and Trade

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 - June 1999
03/06/1999

Latest indications continue to point to a reduction in cereal output in 1999 and to a slight deterioration in the cereal supply outlook for the forthcoming 1999/2000 marketing season. If current forecasts materialize, cereal output in 1999 would not be sufficient to meet expected consumption requirements in 1999/2000 and global cereal reserves accumulated in the last three seasons will have to be drawn down. A major humanitarian emergency persists in Europe, where thousands of refugees have continued to flee from the Kosovo Province of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia over the past weeks. Elsewhere, serious food supply problems also persist in several countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. FAO’s latest forecast puts global cereal output in 1999 at 1 858 million tonnes, 1.3 percent below last year’s crop. Wheat output is forecast at 579 million tonnes, 2.6 percent down from 1998 and below trend, that of coarse grains at 891 million tonnes, 1.5 percent down from the previous year and also below trend. Global rice output is tentatively forecast to increase by 1.4 percent to 387 million tonnes (milled basis). FAO’s first forecast of world trade in cereals in 1999/2000 is 212 million tonnes, 5 million tonnes up from 1998/99. Global trade in wheat is expected to increase by about 5 percent to 100 million tonnes, and that for coarse grains by almost 2 percent, to 92 million tonnes. By contrast, for rice, reduced trade is anticipated in response to better production prospects among several major importing countries. International wheat and coarse grains prices weakened further since March, mostly reflecting continuing sluggish demand on international markets and generally satisfactory growing conditions for 1999 crops. International rice prices fell in April, but recoverd somewhat in May in response to increased import demand. Global production of pulses is expected to rise in 1999 to 58.5 million tonnes. World imports of pulses are also seen to rise, with larger shipments for direct food consumption more than offsetting reduced trade of feed beans. Prices for lentils and chickpeas are anticipated to be firm in 1999 but prospects for other pulses are mixed. FAO estimates world sugar production in 1998/99 at 129.6 million tonnes, 6.5 percent up from the previous season. At this level, output would be above demand for the fourth year in succession and stocks would rise further. Reflecting oversupply on international markets, sugar prices have continued to fall sharply this season.

Food Outlook - February 1999
04/02/1999

The outlook for cereal supplies in 1998/99 has improved slightly, following upward revisions for the 1998 wheat and coarse grains harvests. Global cereal production in 1998 is now estimated at 1 880 million tonnes, just below the anticipated consumption requirements in 1998/99.

 

 

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.