In order to provide scientific evidence for reasonable phosphorus application in cotton production，the effects of phosphorus application rates on yield，nutrient uptake and phosphorus utilization of cotton were studied under the condition of film mulching drip irrigation.The experiment was conducted in Awati county of Xinjiang from 2017 to 2019.Five different phosphorus application rates were set up under the same amount of nitrogen and potassium.Cotton samples were collected at the boll opening stage，and the yield，biomass，nutrient absorption and phosphorus utilization of cotton were determined. The cotton yield，biomass and output value increased significantly with the increase of phosphorus application rate when the rate was 0～130 kg·hm-2，and the absorption of nitrogen，phosphorus and potassium also increased significantly，but the effect was not significant when the phosphorus application rate was higher than 130 kg·hm-2.The phosphorus agronomic efficiency and contribution rate of cotton increased firstly and then decreased while phosphorus utilization efficiency and partial productivity of cotton decreased with the increase of phosphorus application rate.And the agronomic efficiency and contribution rate of phosphorus reached the highest when the phosphorus application rate was 130 kg·hm-2.The regression analysis showed that the optimal economic phosphorus application rate to obtain the maximum yield were 141.21 and 130.19 kg·hm-2，respectively，and the corresponding yields were 6562.19 and 6558.22 kg·hm-2，respectively. The economic phosphorus application rate could save 7.81% of phosphorus fertilizer without reducing cotton yield (99.94% of the maximum yield).Therefore，considering yield，economic benefits，nutrient absorption and nitrogen utilization of cotton，the recommended economic phosphorus application rate of the selected cotton field is 130.19 kg·hm-2.