Yes. The FAOSTAT core , developed more tha a year ago, contains integrated data from 1990 in primary equivalents. The data for longer time series and more detailed primary and processed products can be found in the satellite databases of  the FAOSTAT family which feed the integrated core of FAOSTAT. These detailed databases such as ProdSTAT, TradeSTAT, PriceSTAT, ResourceSTAT, ForeSTAT, AquaSTAT, FishSTAT have been released in 2006 and will be updated in 2007. Information using the old FAOSTAT classfication is also still available and can be found in the Archives section of the website.

Yes. Information from 1961, using the old FAOSTAT methodology and classification is still available by going to the Archives section of the website.

Subscriptions are now available.  Please see the top of the page for more details, or contact:

FAOSTAT-Subscribers@fao.org.

Quantities may differ due to changes in classification and commodity definitions and, in the case of trade, due to quantities representing primary equivalents (i.e., raw as well as processed products expressed in primary equivalents).

The list of commodities and their definitions have changed in FAOSTAT. The number of commodities have been greatly reduced, with many former commodities now expressed in terms of their primary equivalent. For example, “Milk, fresh, whole” now includes skimmed milk and butter. Also cereals now include calories from sweeteners, oil, beer, fermented beverages and alcoholic beverages made from cereal crops. For more information, please see Metadata > Classifications.

All aggregations available in the previous version of FAOSTAT can be accessed by going to Archives. More aggregates for the FAOSTAT (by commodity, region) are coming . Please check back for updates to the database. Your patronage of our site is welcome.

The FAOSTAT Core data is a coherent, consistent data set for all countries and for all years (from 1990 onwards) for commodities in their primary equivalent. Data in the Core SUA and FBS domains refer to production of primary products in their physical weight, while data for all elements also include processed products, BUT converted back to their primary commodity equivalent. Hence the list of commodities is reduced as it excludes most processed commodities.

The core is a truely special area of data which can be mixed and matched - spliced and diced. It is not the whole of FAOSTAT but a very important part. For data to be included in the core, requires an SUA, a farm gate price and "other dimension data"; important non-food items, like rubber, will be added shortly to the core.

Yes. The data for more detailed primary and processed products can be found just in the satellite databases of FAOSTAT family which feed the integrated core of FAOSTAT. These detailed databases such as ProdSTAT, TradeSTAT, PriceSTAT, ResourceSTAT, ForeSTAT, AquaSTAT and FishSTAT have been released in 2006 and will be updated in 2007. Information using the retired  FAOSTAT classfication is also still available and can be found in the Archives section of the website.

Go to Metadata, Concepts and Definitions, and Glossary (list) or Glossary (search). In some cases the definitions of elements may have changed from the previous version of FAOSTAT. For example, in the Food Balance Sheet domain, “Other net uses” now includes feed, seed, waste, changes to stocks and any other uses.

Generally speaking FAOSTAT data should never be given precedence over national official statistics. Every effort is made in FAOSTAT to publish the latest data on agriculture and prepared in a consistent way across countries for international comparison. For national studies it is recommended to use national statistical offices wherever possible, as the information collected is often more detailed and up-to-date. They are the "first port "of call for data.

Information is recorded for over a thousand commodities in FAOSTAT. The number of commodities varies depending on which part of FAOSTAT data is being extracted from. TradeStat and ProdStat contain information on detailed commodities similar to the previous version of FAOSTAT. The FAOSTAT Core on the other hand contains information for only 125 commodities, expressed in their primary equivalent.

In presenting FAOSTAT, staff are reviewing the list of aggregations and questioning some of the commonly used aggregations to come up with a simple basic set which can be user driven. Basic questions are being posed as to the correctness and completeness of past aggregations, such as transition countries.

Please go to the  FAOSTAT database, Trade and select Trade Matrix (WATM) . Information is available by commodity, import and export quantities and values, year and trading partner.

See ResouceSTAT

Detailed information in the  FAOSTAT database is currently only available for some domains . Similarly detailed information for resources will be released later .

No. Summary statistics may be added at a later date, subject to demand by users and resorces available to carry out such tools.

Bulk downloads will be available to subscribed users.

Users wishing to download an average three-year Food Balance Sheet for a country are no longer able to. Three separate Food Balance Sheets should be simply downloaded and averaged locally instead.

Our revamped secure subscription service is now on-line, please refer to FAOSTAT-Subscribers@fao.org, subscribed users will be given unlimited access to the data. In the meantime we are offering all users free access to the data (with a limit of up to 4000 records per download). For data extractions of over 4000 records, we are advising users to subscribe as many hundreds have.

Send an email as soon as possible to FAOSTAT@fao.org or contact the helpdesk (Mon-Fri) on:

+39 06 570 54019 (open 9am-5pm, Central Europeen Time)
+39 335 1414 625 (open 9am-5pm, Central Europeen Time)

Please don't miss the metadata page as many answers to your questions are contained within these pages.

For data from 2004 onwards a new methodology has been introduced to convert the quantities of processed commodities back to their primary level (also called "standardisation"). Users should be aware of possible breaks in the series due to the updated improved  methodology.

FAOSTAT has introduced  the concept of a Core database, in addition to thematic areas or modules. The Core represents a complete statistical dataset, across all themes and for all countries included. In many ways it is similar to the FAO Statistical Yearbook in that a standard list of countries or commodities can theoretically be extracted and combined for all domains. To be included in the Core requires a complete dataset, hence the list of countries is shorter  than the list of countries outside the Core.

Consumption in the Food Balance Sheets refers to consumption at the household gate. That is, after exports, feed + seed, other ( incl., waste)  from farm to household, and addition to stocks have been subtracted.

Yes. The functionality will eventually be added.

Information on many of these products will continue to be collected in ProdSTAT. The FAOSTAT Core is a specialised area where data are complete within their own matrix; it should not to be confused with the production database.

1 calorie = 4.1868 Joules. When the term calorie is used to express amount of energy provided by food or expended during body activities, the term kcalorie or large Calorie is actually meant. 1 joule is approximately equal to 0.238845896628 cal (calorie) (small calories, lower case c) or 2.390 ×10⁻⁴ kilocalorie, Calories (food energy, upper case C)

In preparation of past food balance sheets, human intervention ( at some financial cost) in data and time series meant that data was sometimes smoothed to ensure this kind of result. In the new approach, the methodology applied is now consistent across countries and is consistent within the approach taken , which surrenders some the stability of the food grouping over years. Work is continuing to fine tuning methods to deal with some of these issues.

FAOSTAT does currently not collect any data on bio fuels. Users should consult FAO's Environment, Climate Change and Bioenergy Division for questions on Bioenergy.

No, actually the reverse is true- data quality has improved. This is due to the collection annually, over recent years, of hundreds of electronic trade files which has meant that external trade estimates have been replace by the trade administrative records and this has flowed on to better consumption data and better checks on production data. In addition, public dissemination of international agricultural statistics is just 15 years old. Prior to that there was no global public transparent dissemination of agricultural statistics; what was available was limited to Yearbooks or special ad hoc publications- where one might find consumption data. In every sense then, data has gone from near “zero transparency” to today’s open web FAOSTAT system. This at a time when the centenary of international agricultural statistics in 2008 is approaching (after a very rocky beginning in the first half of the century, due to two world wars). International data prior to FAOSTAT was neither public, transparent nor readily available to users and users’ feedback was almost nil. History has never seen data so exposed and embolden with user feedback (over 200 users are constantly (24/7) on ( and downloading) the FAOSTAT site with user feedback around the clock. This is a long way from the mailed in letters to FAO of the 1980’s. Lastly,, IT technology availability has meant that maximum entropy modelling as well as casting data within a robust IT framework, has meant the data, at the international level, has moved in quality “light years” from where it was in the 1980s. Country statistics in various locations around the world still suffer problems (coverage, timeliness and accuracy) and these do constrain FAO statisticians and FAOSTAT. Still, modelling with maximum entropy and other tools does help fill some of the gaps, especially on the production side.

The difference between export and import quantities is due to classification issues (assignment) within types of meat/ the imputation and assignment of meat products. The same is true for the value difference between Core and TradeSTAT.

In ProdSTAT USSR has been classified in Asia up to 1991. In the Core dataset countries of the former USSR have been separated into Asia and Europe in 1990 and 1991.