Agricultural use by nutrient; shares use rounded FAO component total, 2023.
World agricultural use of inorganic fertilizer nutrients is measured across nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium for 2023. The graphic uses a three-segment composition, with each segment measured in million tonnes of nutrient and as a share of the rounded component total. Nitrogen is the largest component at 112 Mt, equal to 58.6% of the rounded component total. The three rounded FAO component values sum to 191 Mt, while FAO reports the rounded headline total as 190 Mt.
| Rank | Entry | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nitrogen | 58.6% | 2023 |
| 2 | Phosphorus | 21.5% | 2023 |
| 3 | Potassium | 19.9% | 2023 |
Source 1: FAOSTAT
Publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Dataset/table: FAOSTAT Fertilizers by Nutrient highlights
Units: million tonnes; kilograms per hectare
Date checked: 2026-05-31
Evidence: Supports 2023 world agricultural-use totals for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizer nutrients.
Source 2: FAOSTAT
Publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Dataset/table: FAOSTAT Land, Inputs and Sustainability: Fertilizers by Nutrient
Units: tonnes of nutrient; kilograms per hectare for use per cropland
Date checked: 2026-05-31
Evidence: Supports FAOSTAT Fertilizers by Nutrient scope, units, period, and methodology.
FAO publishes the 2023 nutrient-use components as rounded whole million tonnes. The three nutrients are nitrogen, phosphorus expressed as P2O5 and potassium expressed as K2O.
Shares use the sum of the three rounded FAO component values: 112 Mt, 41 Mt and 38 Mt. The source headline total is 190 Mt, which differs from the component sum because the published component values are rounded.
Rows use the same FAO source family, same 2023 period, same agricultural-use metric and same million-tonne nutrient unit.
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