Scope
The Cotton, Wool, and Textile Data contain statistics on global raw cotton and wool production, supply, use, trade, and price. These data include cotton acreage, yield, and production data for U.S. States that grow cotton, and for the major producing countries around the world. The tables contain domestic and world price series and indexes for cotton and other fibers. The tables also incorporate U.S. raw-fiber equivalent trade data for five fibers (cotton, linen, wool, silk, and synthetic fiber) that are combined into five product groups (floor covering, home furnishings, apparel, headgear, and yarn, thread, and fabric).
Annual and monthly data are provided on either a calendar-year or marketing-year basis. Cotton marketing years span across calendar years. For example, 2024/25 refers to the marketing year beginning August 1, 2024 and ending July 31, 2025.
Methods
USDA, ERS combines and aggregates cotton and wool data from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, World Agricultural Outlook Board, Agricultural Marketing Service, Farm Service Agency, and Foreign Agricultural Service; the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census; and the U.S. Department of Labor. Some data within the cotton and wool data product are calculations using data from the dataset. The A-index prices are published by Cotlook Limited. Cotton and Wool Yearbook data are updated annually in November.
Several important units of measure are used in the Cotton and Wool Yearbook data. The conversion factors are as follow:
- 1 statistical bale = ~480 pounds
- Upland cotton running bales multiplied by 1.025 = statistical bales
- Extra-long Staple (ELS) cotton running bales multiplied by 1.03 = statistical bales
- 1 metric ton = 2,204.622 pounds or 4.593 statistical bales
- 1 hectare = 2.4710 acres
The Cotton and Wool Yearbook contains cotton supply and disappearance data. Estimating the supply and disappearance of cotton is a joint effort of several agencies of USDA’s Cotton Interagency Commodity Estimates Committee (ICEC). These estimates are published monthly in World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report and month-to-month changes in the estimates are explained in ERS’ monthly Cotton and Wool Outlook. For more information, see the USDA Outlook Process.
All yearbook tables provide detailed footnotes with data sources and other helpful information about the tables’ data.
Key variables compiled by the USDA, ERS Cotton & Wool team include:
Supply and Use
- U.S. supply and use data are from USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report
- Area, Supply, and Disappearance are based on official production and stocks statistics reported by the USDA, National Agricultural Statistical Service and trade (export/import) data reported by U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. The formulas for abandonment, total supply, total disappearance, ending stocks, and stocks-to-use ratio are below:
- Abandonment = ((Planted – Harvested) / Planted)*100
- Total supply = Beginning stocks + Production + Imports
- Total disappearance = Mill use + Exports
- Ending stocks = Total supply – Total disappearance + Unaccounted
- Stocks-to-use ratio = Ending stocks / Total disappearance
Imports and Exports:
- Data are reported for both U.S. and world trade.
- U.S. trade data are calculated from U.S. Census Bureau data on a monthly basis and then accumulated to annual totals. The USDA, Foreign Agricultural Service’s Global Agricultural Trade System (GATS) Online database has more information on the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) codes and each product group is found on the website: Reference Info>Definitions>Product Groups>FAS. Each year the U.S. Census Bureau releases annual revisions (known as 13th-month revisions) for the trade data. For more information, see revision/notices page on the GATS website.
- U.S. textile trade data are converted to raw-fiber equivalents for several datasets. For more information, see Raw-Fiber Equivalents of U.S. Textile Trade Data documentation.
- World trade data come from USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service Production, Supply, and Distribution (PS&D) database.
Price Data
Price data are aggregated from several sources including the USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service, International Wool Textile Organization, and Cotlook Limited.
Discontinued Series
- Table 12 (Fiber prices) was discontinued after 2008. Price data are no longer available from the Agricultural Marketing Service or trade reports.
Strengths and Limitations
Strengths
The USDA, ERS Cotton and Wool Yearbook provides an overview for a wide variety of cotton, wool, and textile data across multiple data sources, and places the data in one location for users to have quick access to these resources. This is the only known publicly available dataset that presents these time-series data from multiple sources.
Limitations
The Cotton and Wool Yearbook is only published once a year, with the most recent available monthly data subject to revision. For U.S. monthly textile and apparel trade data, such as tables 36–45, the availability for a time series beyond two and a half years is not present. Multiple Cotton and Wool Yearbook releases would be required to get a longer time series for the different sub-product categories. However, the major product categories are published monthly in the Cotton and Wool Outlook tables.
For information on measures of accuracy, please refer to any documentation available from the sources cited. USDA, NASS provides descriptions of its methodology and quality measures. For USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) methodology and historical changes and revisions, see its website. The Census Bureau website provides perspective on Sources of Non-Sampling Error in its trade data. USDA, AMS covers procedures for Quality of Information on its website. As noted, the most recent month reported is preliminary and subject to updates.
Resources
The sources used to generate the Cotton and Wool Yearbook dataset are primarily publicly available from the USDA agencies, including the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), World Agricultural Outlook Board (WOAB), Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), and Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS).
Other related sources include: the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census; U.S. Department of Labor; and Cotlook Limited.
All yearbook tables provide detailed footnotes with data sources, market year definitions, and other pertinent information.
Recommended Citation
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. (n.d). Cotton and wool yearbook [Data set].