The country at the centre of the global chocolate industry says cocoa production is finally recovering after years of supply shocks that sent chocolate prices soaring across the world.
Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, expects output to rise to between 2 million and 2.1 million metric tons in the current 2025/26 season, marking the first major rebound in three years.
The forecast is significantly higher than the 1.8 million-ton estimate projected earlier this year by traders and analysts surveyed by Reuters, raising hopes that pressure on the global cocoa market could begin to ease after one of its worst crises in decades.
Why this matters globally is simple: Ivory Coast is the backbone of the international chocolate supply chain.
Together with neighbouring Ghana, the country produces the majority of the world’s cocoa, meaning harvest disruptions in West Africa quickly translate into higher chocolate prices in Europe, the United States and other major consumer markets.
