Despite a recent global harvest of nearly 5 million metric tons, the cacao industry's sweet success rests on the fragile fate of smallholder farmers battling aging trees, crop disease, and a volatile market that sees beans trading at record highs while many growers still earn less than a living income.
Key Takeaways
- In the 2022/2023 cocoa year, global cocoa bean production totaled 4.75 million metric tons, a 3.4% decrease from the previous year due to adverse weather in West Africa.
- Ivory Coast produced 1.85 million metric tons of cocoa beans in 2022/2023, representing 38.9% of global production.
- Ghana's cocoa production reached 780,000 metric tons in 2022/2023, accounting for 16.4% of the world total.
- In 2022/23, Netherlands imported 483,000 metric tons of cocoa beans, leading globally.
- Germany imported 234,000 tons of cocoa beans in 2022/2023.
- United States cocoa bean imports totaled 190,000 tons in 2022/2023.
- Global per capita cocoa consumption was 0.78 kg in 2022.
- Europe consumed 35% of global cocoa, or 1.8 million tons in 2022/2023.
- US per capita chocolate consumption was 11.6 kg in 2022.
- Global cocoa price averaged $3,570 per ton in 2023, up 180%.
- Ivory Coast farmgate price was 1,000 CFA/kg ($1.65/kg) in 2023/24 start.
- Ghana farmgate price set at 20,924 cedis/tonne ($2,400/ton) for 2023/24.
- 5 million child laborers work in cocoa production, 29% of workforce.
- Deforestation for cocoa in Ivory Coast averaged 100,000 ha/year 2000-2017.
- 40% of Ivory Coast cocoa grown in protected forest areas illegally.
Global cocoa production fell last year despite rising demand and prices.
Consumption and Market Demand
- Global per capita cocoa consumption was 0.78 kg in 2022.
- Europe consumed 35% of global cocoa, or 1.8 million tons in 2022/2023.
- US per capita chocolate consumption was 11.6 kg in 2022.
- Global chocolate confectionery market value hit $130 billion in 2023.
- Asia-Pacific chocolate consumption grew 4.5% annually to 2025.
- Germany has the highest per capita chocolate intake at 12.5 kg/year in 2022.
- Switzerland consumes 11.9 kg chocolate per capita annually.
- UK chocolate market volume was 530,000 tons in 2022.
- Dark chocolate segment grew 6% globally in 2023 due to health trends.
- Premium chocolate sales increased 8% in value terms in 2023.
- Global cocoa grindings fell to 4.7 million tons in 2022/2023.
- Asia grindings rose to 950,000 tons in 2022/2023, up 5%.
- Europe's cocoa grindings were 1.5 million tons in 2022/2023.
- Americas grindings totaled 850,000 tons in 2022/2023.
- India’s chocolate consumption doubled from 2015 to 2023.
- China’s per capita chocolate consumption is 0.1 kg, with growth potential.
- 50% of US chocolate sales occur during holidays like Halloween and Christmas.
- Plant-based chocolate alternatives grew 15% in 2023.
- Organic chocolate market expanded 10% globally in 2023.
- Single-origin chocolate demand rose 12% in premium segments.
Consumption and Market Demand Interpretation
While the world's cocoa grindings grow flat, its sweet tooth proves far from sated as Europeans strategically dominate the supply, Americans binge on holidays, Germans and the Swiss quietly win the per capita race, and health-conscious and premium trends ensure the global chocolate market remains a decadently frothy $130 billion affair.
Economic and Financial Statistics
- Global cocoa price averaged $3,570 per ton in 2023, up 180%.
- Ivory Coast farmgate price was 1,000 CFA/kg ($1.65/kg) in 2023/24 start.
- Ghana farmgate price set at 20,924 cedis/tonne ($2,400/ton) for 2023/24.
- Cocoa futures on ICE hit record $10,452 per ton in April 2024.
- Global cocoa market value was $25 billion in 2023.
- Chocolate market revenue projected to reach $140 billion by 2028.
- Ivory Coast cocoa contributes 15% to national GDP.
- Ghana cocoa sector employs 800,000 farm families, 25% workforce.
- Average cocoa farmer income in Ivory Coast is $1,500/year pre-price hike.
- Living income for cocoa farmer family estimated at $3,943/year.
- Hershey's cocoa costs rose 20% in 2023 due to supply issues.
- Mars spent $1 billion on cocoa procurement in 2023.
- Barry Callebaut net debt was CHF 4.5 billion in 2023.
- Cocoa processing margins squeezed to 5% in 2023 from 15%.
- EU cocoa import tariffs average 8% on beans, higher on products.
- Volatility index for cocoa futures was 60% in 2024.
- Speculative long positions in cocoa hit 120,000 lots in 2024.
- Cocoa stocks-to-grindings ratio fell to 20% in 2023/24.
- Global cocoa deficit forecasted at 374,000 tons for 2023/24.
Economic and Financial Statistics Interpretation
While the chocolate market heads towards a $140 billion feast on the backs of record prices, the farmers who supply its lifeblood are still stuck with a stale, $1,500-a-year cracker of an income, proving the industry is more addicted to cheap beans than we are to its final product.
Production Statistics
- In the 2022/2023 cocoa year, global cocoa bean production totaled 4.75 million metric tons, a 3.4% decrease from the previous year due to adverse weather in West Africa.
- Ivory Coast produced 1.85 million metric tons of cocoa beans in 2022/2023, representing 38.9% of global production.
- Ghana's cocoa production reached 780,000 metric tons in 2022/2023, accounting for 16.4% of the world total.
- Indonesia contributed 185,000 metric tons of cocoa beans in 2022/2023, making up 3.9% of global output.
- Ecuador's cocoa production was 370,000 metric tons in 2022/2023, up 8.8% from the prior year.
- Cameroon produced 300,000 metric tons of cocoa in 2022/2023, a 7.1% increase year-over-year.
- Nigeria's output stood at 280,000 metric tons in 2022/2023, comprising 5.9% of global production.
- Brazil produced 240,000 metric tons of cocoa beans in 2022/2023, reflecting steady growth.
- Peru's cocoa production hit 190,000 metric tons in 2022/2023, boosted by fine flavor varieties.
- The average cocoa yield in Ivory Coast was 550 kg per hectare in 2022/2023, below potential due to aging trees.
- Ghana achieved an average yield of 450 kg/ha for cocoa in 2022/2023 amid fertilizer programs.
- Global cocoa farmgate prices averaged $2,500 per ton in 2022/2023 before recent surges.
- Over 5.5 million hectares of land were under cocoa cultivation worldwide in 2022.
- Smallholder farmers produce 90% of the world's cocoa on farms averaging less than 5 hectares.
- In 2023/2024, global cocoa production is forecasted at 4.4 million tonnes, down 7% due to swollen shoot virus.
- Ivory Coast's cocoa area harvested was 3.4 million hectares in 2022/2023.
- Ghana expanded cocoa cultivation to 1.8 million hectares by 2023.
- Ecuador's fine flavor cocoa production grew 10% to 370,000 tons in 2022/2023.
- Africa's share of global cocoa production was 72% in 2022/2023.
- Latin America's cocoa output totaled 820,000 tons in 2022/2023, 17% of global.
- Asia-Pacific cocoa production was 330,000 tons in 2022/2023, mainly Indonesia.
- Global cocoa grindings peaked at 5.1 million tons in 2021/2022 before declining.
- Yield gaps in cocoa farming average 50-70% below potential in major producers.
- Cocoa pod borer affects 20-30% of production in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
- Black pod disease causes 20-30% annual losses in West Africa.
- Swollen shoot virus impacted 500,000 hectares in Ghana by 2023.
- Mirids damage 25-40% of pods in Cameroon and Nigeria.
- Average cocoa tree age in Ivory Coast is 25 years, past peak productivity.
- Rehabilitation programs aim to replant 700,000 hectares in Ivory Coast by 2025.
- Ghana's cocoa yield improved 15% with hybrid seeds in 2022.
Production Statistics Interpretation
While West Africa's aging trees and diseases are causing a bitter 7% forecasted drop in global cocoa production, the sweet irony is that the world's chocolate addiction still rests almost entirely in the calloused hands of smallholders farming plots smaller than a soccer field.
Sustainability and Environmental Impact
- 5 million child laborers work in cocoa production, 29% of workforce.
- Deforestation for cocoa in Ivory Coast averaged 100,000 ha/year 2000-2017.
- 40% of Ivory Coast cocoa grown in protected forest areas illegally.
- Cocoa farming causes 20% of Ghana's deforestation.
- Pesticide use in cocoa is 1.5 kg/ha annually in West Africa.
- Certified sustainable cocoa covers 35% of global production in 2023.
- Rainforest Alliance certified 1.2 million tons of cocoa in 2022.
- UTZ program merged, certifying 800,000 tons annually.
- Carbon footprint of cocoa production is 2.5 tons CO2e per ton beans.
- Water use in cocoa farming averages 2,500 liters per kg chocolate.
- Gender gap: Women comprise 30% of cocoa labor but own 20% land.
- 70% of cocoa farmers lack access to climate-resilient varieties.
- Agroforestry systems boost cocoa yields 30% and biodiversity.
- EU Deforestation Regulation impacts 100% of cocoa imports from 2025.
- Cocoa Initiative reached 500,000 children with education by 2023.
- Fairtrade certified cocoa volume was 200,000 tons in 2022.
- Soil degradation affects 50% of cocoa farms in West Africa.
- Climate change projected to reduce suitable cocoa land 50% by 2050.
- Drought in 2023 reduced Ivory Coast yields by 20%.
- Illegal gold mining encroaches on 10% of cocoa areas in Ivory Coast.
Sustainability and Environmental Impact Interpretation
This industry, which currently supports 5 million child laborers, relies on rampant illegal deforestation and an aging, degraded ecosystem, yet its future depends on a fragile and insufficient patchwork of sustainability certifications that must now brace for transformative regulation.
Trade and Export Statistics
- In 2022/23, Netherlands imported 483,000 metric tons of cocoa beans, leading globally.
- Germany imported 234,000 tons of cocoa beans in 2022/2023.
- United States cocoa bean imports totaled 190,000 tons in 2022/2023.
- Malaysia imported 165,000 tons of cocoa beans in 2022/2023.
- Belgium's cocoa bean imports were 140,000 tons in 2022/2023.
- Ivory Coast exported 1.72 million tons of cocoa beans in 2022/2023.
- Ghana exported 720,000 tons of cocoa beans in 2022/2023.
- Ecuador exported 345,000 tons of cocoa beans in 2022/2023.
- Indonesia's cocoa bean exports dropped to 50,000 tons in 2022/2023 due to export bans.
- Global cocoa bean exports reached 4.2 million tons in 2022/2023.
- Europe accounted for 65% of global cocoa bean imports in 2022/2023.
- Asia imported 20% of world cocoa beans, totaling 850,000 tons in 2022/2023.
- North America's cocoa imports were 250,000 tons in 2022/2023.
- Ivory Coast's cocoa exports to Netherlands were 40% of its total in 2022/2023.
- Ghana directed 35% of cocoa exports to Malaysia in 2022/2023.
- Cocoa butter exports globally were 1.1 million tons in 2022/2023.
- Cocoa powder exports totaled 850,000 tons worldwide in 2022/2023.
- The EU imported $12 billion worth of cocoa products in 2022.
- US cocoa imports value reached $4.5 billion in 2022.
- Ivory Coast cocoa export revenue was $4.2 billion in 2022/2023.
- Ghana earned $2.1 billion from cocoa exports in 2022/2023.
- Global cocoa trade volume grew 2% annually from 2018-2023.
- In 2023/24, world cocoa bean imports are projected at 4.8 million tons.
Trade and Export Statistics Interpretation
It appears the Dutch have a chocolate river worthy of Willy Wonka, importing nearly half a million tons of beans, while Europe collectively devours 65% of the world's supply, proving that cocoa's golden ticket flows overwhelmingly from West African farms to Western factories.
Sources & References
- Reference 1ICCOicco.orgVisit source
- Reference 2WORLDCOCOAFOUNDATIONworldcocoafoundation.orgVisit source
- Reference 3STATISTAstatista.comVisit source
- Reference 4FAOfao.orgVisit source
- Reference 5COCOBODcocobod.ghVisit source
- Reference 6ANECACAOanecacao.org.ecVisit source
- Reference 7CIRADcirad.frVisit source
- Reference 8CABIcabi.orgVisit source
- Reference 9FRONTIERSINfrontiersin.orgVisit source
- Reference 10WORLDBANKworldbank.orgVisit source
- Reference 11CNNcnn.comVisit source
- Reference 12GRAPHICgraphic.com.ghVisit source
- Reference 13OECoec.worldVisit source
- Reference 14ECec.europa.euVisit source
- Reference 15TRADEtrade.govVisit source
- Reference 16CONSEILCAFECACAOconseilcafecacao.ciVisit source
- Reference 17MORDORINTELLIGENCEmordorintelligence.comVisit source
- Reference 18GRANDVIEWRESEARCHgrandviewresearch.comVisit source
- Reference 19EUROMONITOReuromonitor.comVisit source
- Reference 20IBEFibef.orgVisit source
- Reference 21NCAUSAncausa.orgVisit source
- Reference 22MINTELmintel.comVisit source
- Reference 23GLOBALMARKETINSIGHTSglobalmarketinsights.comVisit source
- Reference 24CONFECTIONERYNEWSconfectionerynews.comVisit source
- Reference 25REUTERSreuters.comVisit source
- Reference 26BLOOMBERGbloomberg.comVisit source
- Reference 27ETHICALCONSUMERethicalconsumer.orgVisit source
- Reference 28LIVINGINCOMEFOUNDATIONlivingincomefoundation.orgVisit source
- Reference 29INVESTORSinvestors.hersheys.comVisit source
- Reference 30MARSmars.comVisit source
- Reference 31BARRY-CALLEBAUTbarry-callebaut.comVisit source
- Reference 32TRADEtrade.ec.europa.euVisit source
- Reference 33CMEGROUPcmegroup.comVisit source
- Reference 34CFTCcftc.govVisit source
- Reference 35WALKFREEFOUNDATIONwalkfreefoundation.orgVisit source
- Reference 36NATUREnature.comVisit source
- Reference 37MIGHTYEARTHmightyearth.comVisit source
- Reference 38IDHSUSTAINABLETRADEidhsustainabletrade.comVisit source
- Reference 39RAINFOREST-ALLIANCErainforest-alliance.orgVisit source
- Reference 40SCIENCEDIRECTsciencedirect.comVisit source
- Reference 41WATERFOOTPRINTwaterfootprint.orgVisit source
- Reference 42OXFAMoxfam.orgVisit source
- Reference 43CIFOR-ICRAFcifor-icraf.orgVisit source
- Reference 44ENVIRONMENTenvironment.ec.europa.euVisit source
- Reference 45COCOAINITIATIVEcocoainitiative.orgVisit source
- Reference 46FAIRTRADEfairtrade.netVisit source
- Reference 47BIOVERSITYINTERNATIONALbioversityinternational.orgVisit source
- Reference 48CLIMATECENTRALclimatecentral.orgVisit source