According to the 2021 Organic Cotton Market Report published by Textile Exchange, in the 2019/20 period, organic cotton broke the record for the largest volume of organic fibre harvested globally to date. Organic cotton production, which has been increasing for four consecutive years, recorded 4% growth in fibre volume during this period and accounted for approximately 1% of the global cotton harvest.
According to the report, in 2019/20, a total of 229,280 farmers grew 249,153 tons of organic cotton fibre on 588,425 hectares of certified organic land in 21 countries. When ranked by production, the top seven organic cotton producing countries, which account for 95 percent of global production has been announced such as; India (50%), China (12%), Kyrgyzstan (12%), Turkey (10%), Tanzania (5%), Tajikistan (4%) and the USA (3%).
Increasing demand for organic cotton
Textile Exchange Founder and CEO La Rhea Pepper stated that the demand for organic cotton has increased steadily, especially in the last four years. La Rhea Pepper said; “All signs point to growing demand for organic cotton as brands expand the use of fibre in their product lines in response to concerns about the textile industry’s impact on the environment and consumer demands for sustainable choices”.
Uzbekistan and Myanmar will join the ranks of organic cotton producers in 2019/20, while at least three more countries are expected to join the list in the next few years. Tanzania and Kyrgyzstan were the countries that contributed the most to the global growth seen in this period, followed by Uganda, USA, Pakistan, India and Turkey.
In the 2019/20 season, at least 50,552 hectares of cotton land were converted to organic cotton land, accounting for eight percent of the total certified production area. India once again stood out as the country with the most land in organic conversion, followed by Turkey, Tajikistan and Tanzania.
Organic cotton production is expected to achieve an estimated 48% growth in 2020/21, with strong momentum mainly from India and Turkey.