Cotton, Today
Two Countries, Half the World's Cotton
China and India together produce roughly half of the world's cotton today. Global production for the 2026/27 season is projected at around 116 million bales — close to 25 million metric tons — with the United States, Brazil, and Pakistan rounding out the next tier of major producers.
Same Fiber, Smaller Footprint — Mostly
Since 1985, U.S. cotton growers have cut irrigation water use per hectare by nearly 50% while lifting yields by more than 50% — a threefold gain in water efficiency. Even so, cotton remains one of the more water- and pesticide-intensive crops grown at this scale, and the labor and land questions raised centuries ago still surface in today's supply chains.
The Same Story, Still Being Written
From Mehrgarh's copper beads to Manchester's mills, from the cotton gin to Gandhi's charkha, this fiber's history isn't a closed chapter — it's still being grown, spun, and worn by close to half the planet, and it's still raising the same questions about who does the labor and who captures the value.
