Has who-produces-it spread out over time, or narrowed?
Of 71 commodities with a country-level production history back to the 1960s, 34 now have a less concentrated top five than they did then (a fall of 5 percentage points or more), and 17 have become more concentrated by as much. Sorghum spread out the most: its top five held 82% of world output in the 1960s and 49% in the 2020s.
This tracks the same top-five share as the concentration report, but by decade rather than as a single latest snapshot, for the 71 commodities whose source publishes country-level output for every year back to the 1960s: FAOSTAT crops and forestry, FAO fisheries, and the Energy Institute's fuels. Metals and minerals from USGS are not shown here, because USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries publishes only the latest year or two of country detail, not a historical series to trend (see data reliability). A decade's share is the mean of the years reported in it, and the most recent decade covers only the years published so far. Click a heading to sort by the change from first to last decade.
| Commodity | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sorghum | 82% | 79% | 77% | 73% | 64% | 54% | 49% | −33pt |
| Cashews | 91% | 88% | 81% | 73% | 71% | 66% | 65% | −26pt |
| Sesame seed | 73% | 71% | 71% | 71% | 70% | 59% | 52% | −21pt |
| Pepper | 91% | 91% | 88% | 77% | 78% | 74% | 71% | −20pt |
| Sunflower oil | 90% | 80% | 61% | 54% | 59% | 68% | 71% | −19pt |
| Uranium | 91% | 77% | 69% | 70% | 69% | 69% | 72% | −18pt |
| Oats | 69% | 73% | 72% | 60% | 53% | 52% | 51% | −18pt |
| Honey | 62% | 58% | 55% | 44% | 44% | 45% | 44% | −18pt |
| Potatoes | 71% | 71% | 65% | 54% | 52% | 55% | 55% | −16pt |
| Sawnwood | 69% | 66% | 61% | 55% | 50% | 54% | 53% | −16pt |
| Logs | 68% | 65% | 64% | 59% | 56% | 53% | 52% | −16pt |
| Fishmeal | — | 61% | 64% | 66% | 64% | 51% | 45% | −15pt |
| Milk | 57% | 56% | 54% | 44% | 39% | 40% | 43% | −14pt |
| Olive oil | 87% | 87% | 89% | 88% | 88% | 78% | 73% | −14pt |
| Cassava | 68% | 64% | 63% | 64% | 58% | 57% | 55% | −14pt |
| Mangoes | 79% | 76% | 75% | 73% | 71% | 66% | 66% | −13pt |
| Wool | 67% | 68% | 67% | 61% | 56% | 54% | 55% | −12pt |
| Natural rubber | 86% | 88% | 87% | 85% | 81% | 78% | 75% | −11pt |
| Vanilla | 96% | 98% | 97% | 93% | 90% | 88% | 85% | −11pt |
| Barley | 54% | 58% | 56% | 45% | 44% | 40% | 44% | −11pt |
| Chicken | 57% | 49% | 49% | 52% | 53% | 49% | 47% | −10pt |
| Grapes | 61% | 61% | 60% | 54% | 51% | 52% | 52% | −9pt |
| Hazelnuts | 97% | 97% | 96% | 94% | 92% | 89% | 88% | −8pt |
| Beef | 57% | 57% | 55% | 50% | 51% | 49% | 49% | −8pt |
| Soybeans | 96% | 95% | 92% | 91% | 92% | 89% | 88% | −8pt |
| Natural gas | — | 63% | 57% | 65% | 54% | 52% | 57% | −7pt |
| Canola | 74% | 78% | 77% | 81% | 77% | 70% | 67% | −7pt |
| Ginger | 92% | 92% | 81% | 69% | 75% | 82% | 85% | −6pt |
| Wheat | 59% | 61% | 60% | 55% | 51% | 52% | 53% | −6pt |
| Pineapples | 50% | 50% | 53% | 53% | 51% | 47% | 45% | −6pt |
| Dates | 74% | 73% | 73% | 72% | 70% | 67% | 68% | −6pt |
| Lamb | 54% | 50% | 45% | 42% | 46% | 45% | 48% | −6pt |
| Orange juice | 59% | 62% | 64% | 67% | 62% | 58% | 54% | −5pt |
| Oranges | 59% | 62% | 64% | 67% | 62% | 58% | 54% | −5pt |
| Almonds | 83% | 79% | 75% | 70% | 75% | 77% | 79% | −4pt |
| Chickpeas | 93% | 93% | 91% | 90% | 86% | 86% | 89% | −4pt |
| Crude oil | 58% | 50% | 47% | 46% | 43% | 48% | 54% | −4pt |
| Plywood | 81% | 78% | 76% | 76% | 76% | 80% | 78% | −3pt |
| Cocoa | 78% | 78% | 75% | 76% | 83% | 80% | 76% | −2pt |
| Cloves | 100% | 100% | 99% | 99% | 98% | 98% | 98% | −2pt |
| Cheese | 56% | 58% | 59% | 60% | 58% | 58% | 56% | −1pt |
| Quinoa | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | +0pt |
| Linseed | 86% | 85% | 85% | 81% | 83% | 81% | 86% | +0pt |
| Rice | 71% | 72% | 74% | 74% | 71% | 71% | 71% | +1pt |
| Corn | 70% | 70% | 70% | 72% | 71% | 70% | 71% | +1pt |
| Cinnamon | 99% | 98% | 98% | 99% | 100% | 100% | 100% | +1pt |
| Pistachios | 97% | 97% | 96% | 96% | 96% | 97% | 99% | +2pt |
| Peanuts | 68% | 67% | 74% | 79% | 76% | 70% | 70% | +2pt |
| Coffee | 64% | 56% | 58% | 54% | 62% | 67% | 66% | +2pt |
| Jute | 97% | 96% | 97% | 98% | 99% | 99% | 99% | +2pt |
| Sisal | 84% | 85% | 87% | 85% | 90% | 88% | 87% | +3pt |
| Tomatoes | 58% | 52% | 50% | 50% | 56% | 61% | 61% | +4pt |
| Eggs | 57% | 54% | 52% | 56% | 58% | 58% | 62% | +4pt |
| Plantains | 61% | 66% | 62% | 66% | 65% | 64% | 66% | +5pt |
| Pork | 61% | 59% | 60% | 62% | 66% | 67% | 67% | +5pt |
| Cotton | 71% | 70% | 74% | 71% | 73% | 76% | 76% | +5pt |
| Avocados | 57% | 61% | 62% | 59% | 56% | 58% | 63% | +6pt |
| Bananas | 44% | 43% | 44% | 48% | 53% | 54% | 52% | +7pt |
| Tea | 77% | 71% | 70% | 75% | 77% | 83% | 85% | +8pt |
| Apples | 59% | 55% | 50% | 50% | 58% | 64% | 67% | +8pt |
| Silk | 90% | 91% | 91% | 91% | 95% | 98% | 98% | +8pt |
| Yams | 86% | 85% | 83% | 93% | 94% | 94% | 95% | +9pt |
| Cardamom | 86% | 86% | 87% | 86% | 91% | 95% | 95% | +9pt |
| Sugar | 43% | 41% | 40% | 42% | 50% | 54% | 55% | +12pt |
| Palm oil | 78% | 80% | 84% | 87% | 91% | 92% | 91% | +13pt |
| Lentils | 67% | 71% | 78% | 78% | 77% | 80% | 81% | +14pt |
| Tobacco | 53% | 54% | 61% | 68% | 68% | 72% | 70% | +17pt |
| Coal | — | — | 61% | 66% | 73% | 77% | 81% | +20pt |
| Palm kernel oil | 66% | 65% | 79% | 87% | 90% | 91% | 91% | +25pt |
| Shrimp | 51% | 49% | 49% | 57% | 67% | 72% | 76% | +25pt |
| Coconut oil | 57% | 72% | 79% | 83% | 86% | 89% | 87% | +29pt |
| Commodity | 1960s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|
| Sorghum | 82% | 49% |
| Cashews | 91% | 65% |
| Sesame seed | 73% | 52% |
| Pepper | 91% | 71% |
| Sunflower oil | 90% | 71% |
| Uranium | 91% | 72% |
| Oats | 69% | 51% |
| Honey | 62% | 44% |
| Commodity | 1960s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|
| Coconut oil | 57% | 87% |
| Shrimp | 51% | 76% |
| Palm kernel oil | 66% | 91% |
| Coal | 61% | 81% |
| Tobacco | 53% | 70% |
| Lentils | 67% | 81% |
| Palm oil | 78% | 91% |
| Sugar | 43% | 55% |
FAOSTAT crops and livestock, FAOSTAT forestry, FAO fisheries and the Energy Institute Statistical Review, country-level output by year. Shown only for commodities with at least 4 decades of coverage. A rising world total with a falling top-five share means new producers entered or grew faster than the leaders, not that the leaders produced less.
More patterns
- Concentration:
- Producer or exporter?:
- Prices in real terms:
- Growth and decline:
- Linked prices and seasons:
- Reserves and mining:
- Supply concentration:
- Land or yield?:
- Supply shocks and prices:
- Category price indices:
- Drawdowns and volatility:
- Stocks and prices:
- Which prices follow oil?:
- How reliable is the data?:
- Net exporters and importers:
- Country leaders:
- Export dependency:
- Import dependency:
- Supplier shifts:
- Trade price against benchmark:
- Prices in other currencies:
- Do prices lead each other?:
- Volatility over time:
- Seasonality:
- Price ratios:
- El Niño and prices:
- Who consumes it:
- Self-sufficiency:
- Trade flows:
Every figure is computed from the same tables as the commodity pages. The full set is in patterns.json, and single facts from it appear each day on the facts page.