The total basic chemicals demand in 2018 increased to 515 million metric tons, a 20-million metric ton increase over 2017 total demand. The strongest growth (in 2018) was reported in the ethylene (8 million tons), propylene (5 million tons), benzene (1.6 million tons), and parax-ylene (3 million tons) markets. Steady and strong global economic growth has been the single most positive factor influencing strong demand growth for basic chemicals for the past four years. As well as urbanisation: for the past three years, all major regions of the world have been growing.