Pesticide use in Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo: Pesticide use was 1,626 tonnes in 2023. ▲ Rising
Pesticide use in Democratic Republic of Congo, 1990–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in tonnes.
Analysis
In 2023, pesticide use in Democratic Republic of Congo stood at 1,626 tonnes. That is the highest value across all 34 years on record.
That represents a change of up 18.8% on the previous year and up 47.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, pesticide use in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 1,626 tonnes in 2023 and was at its lowest, 953 tonnes, in 2021.
That places Democratic Republic of Congo 99th out of 211 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Pesticide use in Democratic Republic of Congo, year by year
| Year | tonnes | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 1,106 tonnes | — |
| 1991 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 1,106 tonnes | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 1,130 tonnes | +2.2% |
| 2016 | 1,114 tonnes | -1.4% |
| 2017 | 1,082 tonnes | -2.9% |
| 2018 | 1,045 tonnes | -3.4% |
| 2019 | 1,014 tonnes | -3.0% |
| 2020 | 962 tonnes | -5.1% |
| 2021 | 953 tonnes | -0.9% |
| 2022 | 1,369 tonnes | +43.7% |
| 2023 | 1,626 tonnes | +18.8% |
Democratic Republic of Congo compared with similar countries
- Democratic Republic of Congo's 1,626 tonnes is above the median for low income countries, which is 895 tonnes, 1.8× the median. (22 countries reporting)
- Democratic Republic of Congo's 1,626 tonnes is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 747 tonnes, 2.2× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1,106 tonnes | 1,106 tonnes | 1,106 tonnes | 10 |
| 2000s | 1,106 tonnes | 1,106 tonnes | 1,106 tonnes | 10 |
| 2010s | 1,092 tonnes | 1,014 tonnes | 1,130 tonnes | 10 |
| 2020s | 1,228 tonnes | 953 tonnes | 1,626 tonnes | 4 |
Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo
More reference data data for Democratic Republic of Congo
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 1.44 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 (AR5) - Enteric 3,057 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 6.66 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 (AR5) - Burning - Crop 235.34 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) (AR5) - Manure left on Pasture 1,764 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.82 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) (AR5) - Manure Management 601.15 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CH4) - IPCC Agriculture 140.16 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 11.56 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) (AR5) - Manure applied to Soils 313.43 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is pesticide use in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Pesticide use in Democratic Republic of Congo was 1,626 tonnes in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest pesticide use recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The highest recorded value was 1,626 tonnes in 2023.
- What is the lowest pesticide use recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was 953 tonnes in 2021.
- How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for pesticide use?
- Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 99th out of 211 countries with data for 2023.
- Is pesticide use rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Over the last ten years it is up 47.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Pesticide use. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Total pesticide use measured in tonnes of pesticide consumption per year.