Fertilizer consumption

IFA assesses fertilizer consumption at a product, nutrient and country level, with product level data made available back to 1973 via our data query tool, and nutrient totals available back to 1961 from the link below.

Notes and definitions

Fertilizer consumption data published on IFASTAT represent plant nutrition uses (applications to crops, pastures, forests, fishponds, turf, ornamentals), excluding use in animal feed. Technical uses are excluded, subject to the constraints of data availability.

Fertilizer consumption data by country and by product are based on three primary sources: survey of country experts, published national consumption statistics, and fertilizer apparent consumption.

For most countries, fertilizer consumption in a country is assessed by product and then aggregated to the nutrient level. For some countries, where nutrient totals are available but product reporting is incomplete, product consumption is assessed as a residual.

Each year, IFA surveys its network of contacts in 45-50 countries and regional blocs, representing about 85-90% of global fertilizer use. These include national or regional fertilizer associations, fertilizer companies, consultants, and recognized experts. The reliability and consistency of the data shared by these contacts is reviewed and verified before either being adopted, or exploring alternative sources including apparent consumption calculations.

Reference periods

Fertilizer consumption data is presented as a mix of calendar year (January to December) and fertilizer campaign year (e.g. July [t] -June[t+1]), depending on the country. This approach ensures consistency with agronomic practices across regions.

Fertilizer apparent consumption calculations

Fertilizer apparent consumption for a given product is calculated with the following formula:

• Production + imports – exports – technical/industrial use – use in manufacture of other product

To avoid double-counting, the quantities of fertilizer products used to manufacture the final products are not taken into account in the calculation of fertilizer apparent consumption. For example, the volumes of urea and AN needed to produce UAN are excluded from urea and AN fertilizer consumption. The same applies for MOP volumes used to produce secondary SOP.

When surveys exist for production and trade (ammonia, urea, AN, AS, CAN, UAN, phosphate rock, DAP, MAP, SSP, TSP and MOP), data for the formula above is sourced from IFA data, while customs data is used to complement product coverage for smaller markets.

When possible, consumption of bulk blends is accounted for under the respective raw materials used to produce these blends.