Global agricultural chemical market value 2018-2025

In 2019, the agrochemical market worldwide was worth approximately 234.2 billion U.S. dollars. This is expected to increase to more than 300 billion U.S. dollars in 2025.

Agricultural chemicals and their uses

Agricultural chemicals (also known as agrochemicals) are chemical agents that are used to protect crops from harmful things such as disease and pests. Additionally, they are used to improve or increase the growth and fertility of plants. Herbicides are used to kill weeds, fungicides are used to kill fungi, and insecticides are used to kill insects. Although the functions fulfilled by these products are very important, the use of agricultural chemicals such as pesticides is heavily criticized. Long term exposure to pesticides has been linked to diseases such as Parkinson’s, asthma, and leukemia. On an immediate basis, however, the health effects of pesticides include nose and throat irritation.

The leading agrochemical companies

The leading agrochemical company worldwide in 2019 based on sales was Chinese-owned company Syngenta. Based on market capitalization, Canadian fertilizer company Nutrien (the result of a merger between PotashCorp and Agrium) was one of the world’s leading agrochemical companies as of 2019. Monsanto was previously one of the largest and most well-known agrochemical/biotechnology companies in the world. As of June 2018, Bayer finalized a deal to take Monsanto over.