Analysis of global pesticide trade: In recent years, the total global pesticide exports reached 5.8 million to 5.9 million tons, and China accounted for about 37

According to the report "The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022" released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, about 2.3 billion people (29.3%) in the world will face moderate or severe food insecurity in 2021, an increase of 350 million people since the outbreak of COVID-19. Nearly 924 million people (11.7%) are acutely food insecure, an increase of 207 million in two years. The global COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the fragility of food production systems, exacerbating hunger and acute food insecurity around the world. Pesticides are indispensable inputs for agricultural production and play an irreplaceable role in ensuring global food security. At the same time, with the continuous improvement of public living standards and consumer demand, higher requirements have been put forward for the use of pesticides and green sustainable development. Based on the analysis of pesticide trade in major countries in the world in recent years, combined with the overall trend of global pesticide regulation, this paper aims to provide reference for the green and sustainable development of pesticide industry.

01 Changes in global pesticide export volume

1.1 Total global pesticide exports

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization database (FAOSTAT) statistics, in the 1990s, the total amount of global pesticide exports was about 1 million to 1.5 million tons per year (Figure 1). Since 2000, the global pesticide export has entered a rapid growth stage, in 2004, the total export of pesticides exceeded 2 million tons; Subsequently, with an interval of 4 years, the export growth at a rapid rate of 1 million tons, in 2008 exceeded 3 million tons, in 2012 exceeded 4 million tons, in 2016, the global export total reached 5.5 million tons, in 2017 reached the highest value, the total export exceeded 6 million tons, and in recent years, the annual export total of 5.8 million to 5.9 million tons.

1.2 Total export volume of pesticides in China

China is a major producer and exporter of pesticides. In the 1990s, the export volume was very small, about 100,000 tons per year (Figure 2); Since 2000, China's pesticide exports have grown rapidly, and in 2007, pesticide exports exceeded 500,000 tons. In 2013, the export volume of pesticide exceeded 1 million tons; In 2017, it reached 1.67 million tons, and then the export volume of pesticides fell slightly in 2018-2019, and the annual export volume stabilized at about 1.5 million tons. After 2020, due to the impact of the global epidemic of the new coronavirus, foreign pesticide production supply chains have been severely impacted. The domestic relatively rapid control of the spread and development of the epidemic, to ensure the smooth progress of pesticide production, pesticide exports further surged over 2 million tons, pesticide exports in 2020 reached a historical high of 2.51 million tons, and pesticide exports in 2021 stabilized at about 2.2 million tons.

1.3 Changes in the global share of pesticide exports by countries

According to the statistics of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, a total of 134 countries in the world have pesticide export business in 2019, and the top 5 countries in pesticide export volume are China, Germany, India, France and the United States (Figure 3). Among them, China's pesticide exports accounted for 27% of the global total, and the other four countries accounted for 8% to 9% each. From the analysis of the development trend of the global proportion of pesticide exports, the countries with a large number of pesticide exports in the 1990s were mainly the United States, Germany and France, and the United States accounted for about 30% of the world's pesticide exports at that time (Figure 4).

Germany and France each account for about 20%, and the total pesticide exports of three countries account for more than 70% of the world. However, with the continuous increase of China's pesticide exports, the global proportion of pesticide exports in the United States, Germany and France has shown a downward trend year by year, and the above three countries each account for about 8% of the total global pesticide exports. China's pesticide exports accounted for about 10% of the world in the 1990s, accounted for 25% of the world in 2015, and accounted for more than 1/3 of the world's pesticide exports in recent years. India's pesticide industry started to develop slowly, but has also maintained a slow growth trend, in recent years, its pesticide exports accounted for nearly 8% of the world, and the annual export volume of pesticide exporters in Europe and the United States is equivalent.