Yes, in our list of 8 countries that produce the most cotton in the world, we are talking about those little fluffy white balls that are crucial in dressing the world population. Although synthetic fibers are on the rise, they are still far way from providing the quality and endurance that cotton offers.
Cotton is used for clothes making since ancient times, but its widespread use came when cotton gin was invented. Before this invention, cotton fibers were manually separated from the seeds which meant more money and time costs of cotton production. The cotton gin made that process faster and easier, eventually paving the way for cotton to be the most widely used material for clothes making. Unfortunately, cotton gin is also credited for increasing slavery in the United States since, with lower production costs, demand for cotton increased. Now, cotton is picked and processed mechanically.
Tracing Tea / Shutterstock.com
We already said that cotton plays an important part in the clothing industry, with most of the socks, underwear, and T-shirts being made from this fabric. Besides that, cotton is credited with absorbing properties which make it ideal for towels and bath robes. One more thing commonly made from cotton are bed sheets, but you probably knew that if you checked our list of 7 most expensive bed sheets.
To find out 8 countries that produce the most cotton in the world, we looked into stats collected by Food And Agriculture Organization Of The United Nations from 2013 and 2014 and formed our ranking according to cotton production measured in metric tons. So let’s check out where did your T-shirt material come from.
8. Turkey
Production: 832,500 tonnes
Turkey has been increasing and decreasing its cotton production through the years. For example, they were producing close to 1,000,000 tons at the beginning of the 2000s but cut the production by almost 50% in 2009. The main reasons for these ups and downs were increasing production costs and lower demand.
7. Australia
Production: 898,000 tonnes
Australia has emerged as one of the largest cotton producing countries in the last few years. The country has rapidly increased its production in 2011 when they produced around 60% more cotton than in 2010 and kept the production on a similar level in 2012 and 2013.
6. Uzbekistan
Production: 1,094,000 tonnes
Cotton is a major contributor to Uzbekistan’s economy due to the fact that production is mainly aimed towards exports. Uzbekistan is the world’s second largest exporter of cotton, supplying markets of China, Bangladesh, Korea, and Russia.
5. Brazil
Production: 1,127,675 tonnes
Brazil was one of the largest suppliers of cotton in the world until the 1990s when government’s reforms decreased the production. Now Brazil is trying to climb up on the list of 8 countries that produce the most cotton in the world by increasing its cotton production thanks to the government support.
4. Pakistan
Production: 2,171,300 tonnes
Pakistan’s economy largely depends on the cotton industry and its related textile industry. The country had its biggest production jump of 40% from 2003 to 2004. In the recent years, the production is rather steady and goes around 2,000,000 tons.
3. United States
Production: 2,842,000 tonnes
Cotton had a major influence on the history of the United States, with some history experts claiming that increased cotton demand led to the increase of slavery in the United States, causing American Civil War. It’s up to you to decide if there is a major connection. Regarding cotton production, the United States had their ups and downs over the past couple years, but they are still the world’s number one cotton exporter.
2. India
Production: 6,052,000 tonnes
India is one of the rare countries on our list that managed to keep a steady growth in cotton production through the years. Since the beginning of 2000s, cotton production in India has been increasing 5 to 10% almost every year. It is estimated that with this pace India could easily emerge as world’s number one cotton producer.
1. China
Production: 6,298,989 tonnes
China is one of the rare countries among 8 countries that produce the most cotton in the world that uses their cotton for domestic market. Since there has been a decrease in the production, from 2007 and 2008 when the country produced more than 7,000,000 tonnes of cotton, China has to import large amounts of cotton to satisfy the domestic market’s needs.
