What is the highest annual cotton (a index) value in this dataset?

$1.51 ($/lb) in 2011 annual value. This is the highest annual observation within 1960–2025, rather than a daily market record.

How are inflation-adjusted prices calculated?

Each nominal observation is multiplied by the site’s reference CPI divided by the CPI for that observation’s year. The same inflation calculation is used across commodity charts.

Agriculture & Softs Series coverage: 1960–2025

Cotton (A Index) Historical Price Archive

Annual Cotton (A Index) Price Archive

Cite Data

Cotton No.

Annual Cotton, A Index benchmark price: World Bank annual nominal observations from the Pink Sheet workbook. Unit conversions and CPI adjustments are calculated by CommoditiesHistory.com. No incomplete 2026 annual value is included. Published dollars per kilogram are converted to dollars per pound.

Cotton (A Index) Interactive Price History (1960–2025)

Inflation-Adjusted (Real 2026 USD)

Drag to pan, scroll to zoom, and hover for annual values.

Loading chart. Annual values are also available in the table below.

Data sources: World Bank Annual Observations

Cotton (A Index) Historical Eras & Macro Cycles

Detailed analysis of secular supercycles, wartime allocations, and price shocks

Cotton (A Index) historical observations

1960–2025

World Bank annual nominal observations from the Pink Sheet workbook. Unit conversions and CPI adjustments are calculated by CommoditiesHistory.com. No incomplete 2026 annual value is included. Published dollars per kilogram are converted to dollars per pound.

Price Behavior Annual observations range from $0.28 to $1.51 ($/lb).

Key Catalysts

Supply and production
Industrial and consumer demand
International trade

Cotton (A Index) Complete Historical Price Table (1960–2025)

Nominal vs. Real Inflation-Adjusted Prices in 2026 USD

Year	Nominal Price ($/lb)	Real Price (2026 USD)	CPI / Historical Estimate	Historical Context / Market Event
2025	$0.776	$0.810	321.9	—
2024	$0.866	$0.930	313.7	Weak Global Apparel Retail Demand & Chinese State Reserve Buying
2023	$0.948	$1.04	304.7	—
2022	$1.30	$1.48	292.7	Texas Panhandle Extreme Heatwave Slashes US Crop
2021	$1.01	$1.25	271.0	—
2020	$0.721	$0.930	258.8	COVID-19 Apparel Retail Closure Collapse
2019	$0.780	$1.02	255.7	—
2018	$0.912	$1.22	251.1	—
2017	$0.835	$1.14	245.1	—
2016	$0.744	$1.04	240.0	—
2015	$0.703	$0.990	237.0	—
2014	$0.830	$1.17	236.7	—
2013	$0.903	$1.30	233.0	—
2012	$0.894	$1.30	229.6	—
2011	$1.51	$2.25	224.9	All-Time Historic Record Spike ($2.20/lb in March 2011 on Indian Export Bans & Pakistan Floods)
2010	$1.03	$1.59	218.1	—
2009	$0.626	$0.980	214.5	—
2008	$0.712	$1.11	215.3	—
2007	$0.635	$1.03	207.3	—
2006	$0.576	$0.960	201.6	—
2005	$0.553	$0.950	195.3	—
2004	$0.621	$1.10	188.9	—
2003	$0.635	$1.16	184.0	—
2002	$0.463	$0.860	179.9	—
2001	$0.481	$0.910	177.1	Synthetic Polyester Market Share Expansion
2000	$0.590	$1.15	172.2	—
1999	$0.531	$1.07	166.6	—
1998	$0.653	$1.34	163.0	—
1997	$0.794	$1.66	160.5	—
1996	$0.803	$1.71	156.9	—
1995	$0.966	$2.12	152.4	—
1994	$0.798	$1.80	148.2	—
1993	$0.581	$1.35	144.5	—
1992	$0.581	$1.39	140.3	—
1991	$0.762	$1.87	136.2	—
1990	$0.826	$2.12	130.7	—
1989	$0.757	$2.05	124.0	—
1988	$0.635	$1.80	118.3	—
1987	$0.748	$2.21	113.6	—
1986	$0.481	$1.47	109.6	—
1985	$0.599	$1.86	107.6	—
1984	$0.807	$2.60	103.9	—
1983	$0.839	$2.82	99.6	—
1982	$0.726	$2.52	96.5	—
1981	$0.848	$3.13	90.9	—
1980	$0.934	$3.80	82.4	—
1979	$0.776	$3.58	72.6	—
1978	$0.730	$3.75	65.2	—
1977	$0.739	$4.09	60.6	—
1976	$0.794	$4.67	56.9	—
1975	$0.553	$3.45	53.8	—
1974	$0.662	$4.50	49.3	—
1973	$0.630	$4.76	44.4	Synthetic Fiber Polyester Price Spikes Following Oil Shock
1972	$0.376	$3.02	41.8	—
1971	$0.354	$2.93	40.5	—
1970	$0.308	$2.66	38.8	—
1969	$0.286	$2.61	36.7	—
1968	$0.308	$2.97	34.8	—
1967	$0.308	$3.09	33.4	—
1966	$0.281	$2.91	32.4	—
1965	$0.290	$3.09	31.5	—
1964	$0.295	$3.19	31.0	—
1963	$0.295	$3.23	30.6	—
1962	$0.295	$3.27	30.2	—
1961	$0.304	$3.40	29.9	—
1960	$0.295	$3.34	29.6	—

Frequently Asked Questions: Cotton (A Index) History

Targeted answers to high-frequency historical and economic queries

What does this cotton (a index) chart measure?: Annual Cotton, A Index benchmark price. World Bank annual nominal observations from the Pink Sheet workbook. Unit conversions and CPI adjustments are calculated by CommoditiesHistory.com. No incomplete 2026 annual value is included. Published dollars per kilogram are converted to dollars per pound.
What is the highest annual cotton (a index) value in this dataset?: $1.51 ($/lb) in 2011 annual value. This is the highest annual observation within 1960–2025, rather than a daily market record.
How are inflation-adjusted prices calculated?: Each nominal observation is multiplied by the site’s reference CPI divided by the CPI for that observation’s year. The same inflation calculation is used across commodity charts.

Cite This Dataset

World Bank: Commodity Price Data (Pink Sheet): Cotton, A Index — Data providers: Bloomberg Finance L.P.; Cotton Outlook; International Cotton Advisory Committee; Liverpool Cotton Services Ltd.; World Bank.; Cotton Outlook; International Cotton Advisory Committee; Liverpool Cotton Services Ltd.; World Bank. — Underlying source data: CC BY 4.0. Source terms and acknowledgment requirements. Unit conversions and inflation adjustments by CommoditiesHistory.com.

APA (7th Edition)

Commodities History Project. (2026). Cotton (A Index) Historical Prices and Inflation-Adjusted Series (1960–2025) [Data set]. CommoditiesHistory.com. https://commoditieshistory.com/cotton

BibTeX

@dataset{commoditieshistory_cotton_2026,
  author = {{Commodities History Project}},
  title = {Cotton (A Index) Historical Prices and Inflation-Adjusted Series (1960–2025)},
  year = {2026},
  publisher = {CommoditiesHistory.com},
  url = {https://commoditieshistory.com/cotton}
}