Annual deforestation embedded in cocoa trade

Deforestation embedded in cocoa trade

Net annual emissions embedded in cocoa trade

Net emissions embedded in cocoa trade

Gross annual emissions embedded in cocoa trade

Gross emissions embedded in cocoa trade

Trade value

Cocoa area

Volume

Name of the country where the commodity was produced

Name of the department where the commodity was produced

A cocoa farmer cooperative in the supplier disclosure of the trader group

Zero-deforestation commitments (ZDC) are obtained by Global Canopy’s annual assessment which determines whether the exporting company has a commitment to zero deforestation in their supply chain (net or gross deforestation are both acceptable). For more details plase refer to the full methodology document

Company responsible for exporting the commodity

A company group which is involved in the trade, sometimes as the role of exporter and sometimes importer.

Country of product destination as recorded in trade data

Aggregation of destination countries according to relevant economic blocs, including for example the European Union. Not all economic blocs existing in the world are represented in the data: where there is no specific economic bloc the name of the destination country is used instead.

Annual deforestation embedded in cocoa trade represents the area of undisturbed forest loss associated with the cocoa harvested in the current year, accounting for a four-year lag between the loss of undisturbed forest and production.

Cocoa deforestation embedded in trade represent the loss of undisturbed forest over 15 years including a four-year lag period between deforestation and first cocoa harvest.   

Net CO₂-equivalent emissions from cocoa deforestation (4-year lag between deforestaion and first harvest, excl. degradation) were calculated as the difference between gross emissions from annual cocoa deforestation and sequestration in new cocoa plantations.

Net CO₂-equivalent emissions from cocoa deforestation (15-year allocation period, 4-year lag between deforestation and first harvest) were calculated as the difference between gross emissions from cocoa deforestation and sequestration in new cocoa plantations.

Annual gross CO₂-equivalent emissions from cocoa deforestation (4-year lag between deforestaion and first harvest, excl. degradation). Estimates are based on the total biomass removal stored in above- and below-ground biomass excluding soil carbon.

Gross CO₂-equivalent emissions from cocoa deforestation (15-year allocation period, 4-year lag between deforestaion and first harvest, excl. degradation). Estimates are based on the total biomass removal stored in above- and below-ground biomass excluding soil carbon. 

Value of the traded product at point of export in US dollars based on customs and trade data in FOB (Freight on Board) up to 2019 and CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight) from 2020 onwards.

Area of land being used to produce cocoa. Based on exported volumes and yield values per jurisdiction.

Volume of the traded commodity. The total value is a composite of traded sub-products, which are converted to their original raw equivalents and then aggregated.

Unique ID for each department where the product was produced, formatted as 'CI-' followed by the geocode

Country where the product was produced, described using the official ISO 2 code

Country of product destination, described using the official ISO 2 code

Côte d’Ivoire cocoa - Supply chain data

Niamh French

Mark Titley

Florian Gollnow

Valentin Guye

Côte d’Ivoire is the world's largest producer and exporter of cocoa, accounting for 

 in 2024. The cocoa industry is the cornerstone of the country’s economy, employing more than six million people. However, cocoa harvests and prices have been highly volatile in recent years, leading to instability in farmer income and global supply. Between 2019 and 2024, average annual production was 1.87 million tonnes of cocoa beans, peaking at 

In 2023 and 2024, a combination of adverse weather and crop disease caused a 25% decline in production, reducing annual cocoa production to 

. Reduced supply pushed global cocoa prices to historic highs surpassing US$10,000 per tonne in early 2024, roughly 4–5 times the long-term average. However, the combination of poor yields and government-fixed prices led to difficult conditions for farmers, the majority of whom 

 and many rely on child labour. In early 2026, a crash in cocoa prices due to reduced cocoa demand and increased harvests is likely to exacerbate poverty among farmers.

The European Union (EU) is by far the largest importer of Ivorian cocoa, accounting for a record market share of 66.2% in 2024. The second most important market in 2024 was the United States (7.7%), followed by Malaysia (6.2%) and the United Kingdom (5.6%). Of the cocoa imported into the EU, the Netherlands was the largest destination, accounting for 42.0% of EU imports, followed by Belgium (17.3%) and Germany (13.9%). However, much of this cocoa may be subsequently re-exported and consumed elsewhere as these countries are major importing and manufacturing hubs for chocolate products.

The EU is the largest market for Côte d'Ivoire cocoa

In Côte d’Ivoire, trading companies source cocoa 

, or indirectly via intermediaries who aggregate cocoa from multiple sources. Based on the disclosures of trading companies, Trase analysis shows that 48% of total cocoa exports by volume in 2024 could be traced directly back to cooperatives and therefore their departments of production. The remaining 52% is untraceable, either because it was sourced indirectly via intermediaries (34%) or because traders did not disclose information about their suppliers (18%). Although the share of directly sourced cocoa in Trase’s supply chain map has 

, this is partly due to improvements in the methods Trase uses to locate cooperatives and less so to improved traceability within the cocoa sector.

The prevalence of indirect supplies of cocoa and the resulting lack of visibility into its origins makes it very difficult for downstream companies to address issues such as deforestation or child labour in their supply chains. It also makes 

compliance with the EU Deforestation Regulation challenging

, as the EUDR requires traders to know the specific plots of land from which all EU-destined cocoa is sourced. The World Cocoa Foundation’s 

 reported that in 2023, 82% of directly sourced cocoa from participating companies was traceable to plot level.

A small number of traders dominate the market, the six largest accounting for 67% of all cocoa exports in 2024. The extent to which each company sources directly from disclosed cooperatives, and therefore how feasible it may be to trace their supplies, varies significantly. For example, we estimate that Barry Callebaut sources 86% of its cocoa directly from cooperatives, while Sucden directly sources about 19%.

A handful of trading companies dominate the market for Ivorian cocoa

For cocoa exported to the EU, Trase estimates that 52% was traceable directly to cooperatives, enabling the bloc’s sourcing patterns to be mapped at the subnational level. This shows that half of the EU’s direct supply was produced in eight ‘departments’ (administrative areas) in Côte d’Ivoire, the highest volumes coming from San Pedro (52,700 tonnes), Gagnoa (36,700 tonnes) and Duekoue (33,600 tonnes).

More than half of the EU's cocoa is directly sourced from eight departments in Côte d’Ivoire

Many companies in the cocoa sector have taken steps to address supply chain challenges such as deforestation, child labour and poverty. For example, of the 17 companies that traded 90% of cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire in 2024, 10 (accounting for 76% of traded volume) made public zero-deforestation commitments (ZDCs) covering their global activities – a similar result to previous years. However, more detailed assessments by Global Canopy’s 

 of corporate supply chain sustainability in the sector identified significant gaps in commitment strength, scope, implementation, and reporting and verification.

Cargill, the largest exporter of cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire, had a middling score (44%) overall in the Chocolate Scorecard (and scored poorly for living income in particular), while its Forest 500 ranking shows that its commitments were let down by implementation, reporting and verification. At 57%, ECOM scored highest among the major traders assessed by Chocolate Scorecard, and was relatively strong on measures to address child and forced labour. In the Forest 500 ranking, despite a relatively strong ZDC, it scored less well on reporting and verification.

At 57%, Olam had the highest Forest 500 score among the assessed traders, though reporting continued to fall short. Guan Chong Cocoa (appearing as GCB Cocoa in the Scorecard) scored poorly on both rankings. Most of its exports in 2024 were destined for the Netherlands and Malaysia.

Major cocoa traders are taking steps to address supply chain risks, but gaps remain in the scope, strength, implementation and reporting of this action

Between 2000 and 2024, 79% of Côte d’Ivoire’s undisturbed forest had been 

. Although overall rates of deforestation in Côte d’Ivoire have declined over the last decade, this is partly due to the limited amount of forest remaining outside of protected areas.

Côte d'Ivoire has lost 79% of its undisturbed forest since 2000

With increasingly little forest remaining in Côte d'Ivoire, total deforestation and forest degradation have fallen over time

The expansion of cocoa plantations was the major driver of deforestation, accounting for 

 from 2003 to 2017. Quantifying its role in more recent deforestation is challenging as it takes approximately four years for newly planted cocoa trees to develop a canopy detectable in satellite imagery. This means that the most recent maps of cocoa plantations from 2021, 

, do not represent cocoa expansion that occurred after 2017. Given that it takes four years between planting and harvesting, deforestation in 2017 is embedded in cocoa exported in 2021.

For the period where data allows (2014–2017), we combined maps of cocoa production in 2021 with annual maps of deforestation and forest degradation and identified 31,300 ha of deforestation in 2017 that was subsequently replaced by cocoa plantations. This figure is substantially lower than in previous years (101,700 ha in 2014, and 118,300 ha in 2016).

Recent research has demonstrated that attribution of deforestation to cocoa is complicated by indirect land use change because cocoa expansion can 

. While these specific findings relate to neighboring Ghana, researchers highlight the need to 

 alongside direct conversion to achieve sustainable cocoa production across the region.

Over the same four-year period, we calculated that gross greenhouse gas emissions from cocoa deforestation declined from 17.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2014 to 2.7 mtCO2-e in 2017. Note that these figures do not include forest degradation, for example, linked to the expansion of shade-grown cocoa under the forest canopy. These estimates are therefore likely to underestimate the emissions associated with cocoa deforestation.

Greenhouse gas emissions linked to cocoa deforestation have fallen

Despite the challenges mapping recent cocoa expansion and deforestation, a few new initiatives show promise, taking advantage of new datasets based on radar, high-resolution satellite imagery such as the European Space Agency’s Sentinel 1 & 2, or recently released satellite embeddings such as Google’s AlphaEarth. Examples of these initiatives include land cover and cocoa mapping from the 

At present, these options often lack public accessibility or temporal consistency and comparability, hampering robust independent accountability. Nevertheless, ongoing advances and availability of satellite imagery, model development and collaboration between organisations, governments and companies indicate prospects for more accurate mapping of cocoa production and expansion. Coupled with public accessibility and data consistency, these developments could enable more robust, transparent and independent accountability.

To reference Trase data, methods and insights, please use the following:

French, N., Guye, V., Gollnow, F., Biddle, H., Ribeiro, V., Meyfroidt, P., Renier, C., & zu Ermgassen, E. K. H. J. (2026). Côte d’Ivoire cocoa supply chain v.1.2 (2022–2024) (Version 1.2) [Data set]. Trase. 

Trase. (2026). SEI-PCS Côte d'Ivoire cocoa v1.2 supply chain map: Data sources and methods. Trase. 

Guye, V., & French, N. (2026). Côte d’Ivoire cocoa cooperatives: data and methods (Version 1.1) [Data set]. Trase. 

French, N., Titley M., Gollnow, F. Guye, V. (2026). Côte d’Ivoire cocoa exports and deforestation. Trase. 

This article was amended on 13 May to correct Sucden’s Chocolate Scorecard overall score to 51%.

Côte d’Ivoire cocoa exports and deforestation

Department where the commodity was produced

Côte d'Ivoire cocoaExports and deforestation