Food and Agriculture Organization

AQUASTAT is FAO's global information system on water and agriculture, developed by the Land and Water Division. The main mandate of the program is to collect, analyze and disseminate information on water resources, water uses, and agricultural water management with an emphasis on countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. This allows interested users to find comprehensive and regularly updated information at global, regional, and national levels.

The food and agricultural trade dataset is collected, processed and disseminated by FAO according to the standard International Merchandise Trade Statistics Methodology. The data is mainly provided by UNSD, Eurostat, and other national authorities as needed. This source data is checked for outliers, trade partner data is used for non-reporting countries or missing cells, and data on food aid is added to take into account total cross-border trade flows. The trade database includes the following variables: export quantity, export value, import quantity and import value. The trade database includes all food and agricultural products imported/exported annually by all the countries in the world.   Classification system: HS 2012 converted into FAO Commodity List (also known as FCL, which is a classification based on the item tree approach used for the compilation of SUA/FBS).   Sector coverage: The dataset contains all food and agricultural products imported and exported during the reference year by country. In addition to the individual country data, other item and country aggregates are disseminated. The processed trade data is essential for the compilation of Supply/Utilization Accounts (SUA) and Food Balance Sheets (FBS).   Statistical concepts and definitions:Quantity of food and agricultural exports: Export quantity is defined by the IMTS as the physical quantity of domestic origin or manufactured products shipped out of the country. It includes re-exports. According to the FAO methodology, the quantity of food and agricultural exports included in the FAOSTAT database is expressed in terms of weight (tonnes) for all commodities except for live animals which are expressed in units (heads); poultry, rabbits, pigeons and other birds are expressed in thousand units. As a general rule, trade quantity refers to net weight, excluding any sort of container.  Value of agricultural exports: Value of agricultural exports are expressed in thousand US dollars in the FAOSTAT database. Export values are reported as FOB  (free on board—that is, the value of the goods plus the value of the services performed to deliver the goods to the border of the exporting country). Quantity of food and agricultural imports: Import quantity represents the physical quantity of the products imported for domestic consumption or processing shipped into a country. It includes re-imports. According to the FAO methodology, the quantity of food and agricultural imports included in the FAOSTAT database is expressed in terms of weight (tonnes) for all commodities except for live animals which are expressed in units (heads); poultry, rabbits, pigeons and other birds are expressed in thousand units. As a general rule, trade quantity refers to net weight, excluding any sort of container. It includes also food aid quantities, where relevant.  Value of agricultural imports: Value of agricultural imports are expressed in thousand US dollars in the FAOSTAT database. Import values are reported as CIF (cost insurance and freight—that is, the value of the goods, plus the value of the services performed to deliver goods to the border of the exporting country, plus the value of the services performed to deliver the good from the border of the exporting country to the border of the importing country). Statistical unit:All crops and livestock products registered by the customs office in the country. In case of non-customs trade data, the observation unit is the trade operator. For example, within intra-EU trade statistics, this unit is any taxable person carrying out intra-EU trade. For more information, see the IMTS compiler manual, edition 2012. Statistical population:All trade data on food and agricultural products, including livestock, are compiled by all customs offices in the country. For intra-EU trade, the statistical population is all trade operators recording trade transactions over a certain threshold. Total merchandise import/export value is also included.

The Fertilizers by Product dataset contains information on product amounts for the Production, Trade, Agriculture Use and Other Uses of chemical and mineral fertilizers products, over the time series 2002-present. The fertilizer statistics data are validated separately for a set of over thirty individual products. Both straight and compound fertilizers are included.

cThe dataset contains data on Import and Export Value (expressed in 1000 USD) for a selected list of fertilizers, from 1961 on wards. Country and country aggregate data are available. The fertilizers covered are: Nitrogenous fertilizers; Phosphate fertilizers; Potash fertilizers; Fertilizers Manufactured, nes; Fertilizers, Organic; Natural Phosphates; Natural Potassic Salts; Natural Sodium Nitrate.

Data on agricultural land-use are valuable for conducting studies on a various perspectives concerning agricultural production, food security and for deriving cropping intensity among others uses. Indicators derived from the land-use categories can also elucidate the environmental sustainability of countries’ agricultural practices. FAOSTAT Land-use statistics contain a wide range of information on variables that are significant for: understanding the structure of a country’s agricultural sector; making economic plans and policies for food security; deriving environmental indicators, including those related to investment in agriculture and data on gross crop area and net crop area which are useful for policy formulation and monitoring. Land-use resources sub-domain covers: Country area (including area under inland water bodies), Land area (excluding area under inland water bodies), Agricultural area, Arable land and Permanent crops, Arable land, Permanent crops, Permanent meadows and pastures, Forest area, Other land and Area equipped for irrigation. Detailed information on sub-categories: Temporary crops, Temporary meadows and pastures, Fallow land (temporary: less than 5 years), Permanent meadows and pastures cultivated and naturally grown and Organic land. Data are available from 1961 to 2009 for more than 200 countries and areas. Forest area: Global Forest Resource Assessment 2010 (FRA 2010) is the main source of forest area data in FAOSTAT. Data were provided by countries for years 1990, 2000, 2005 and 2010. Data for intermediate years were estimated for FAO using linear interpolation and tabulation. Some of the most interesting data for economists is found in this domain. The national distribution of land, among arable land, pastures and other lands, as well as the importance of irrigation are just some of the interesting data sets.