China vs USSR: Cotton yields
China
6.59 tonnes per hectare
in 2024
USSR
2.59 tonnes per hectare
in 1991
China rank
1st
USSR rank
1st
Cotton yields over time
- China
- USSR
How they compare
China currently reports 6.59 tonnes per hectare against 2.59 tonnes per hectare in USSR, a difference of 4 tonnes per hectare.
That makes China's figure about 2.5 times USSR's.
The two have swapped places 5 times across 31 shared years of data; in 1961 it was USSR ahead.
China ranks 1st and USSR ranks 1st of 100 countries.
USSR has averaged higher in every one of the 4 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | China | USSR | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.1 tonnes per hectare | 2.21 tonnes per hectare | 1.11 tonnes per hectare | USSR |
| 1970s | 1.37 tonnes per hectare | 2.76 tonnes per hectare | 1.4 tonnes per hectare | USSR |
| 1980s | 2.22 tonnes per hectare | 2.67 tonnes per hectare | 0.4542 tonnes per hectare | USSR |
| 1990s | 2.51 tonnes per hectare | 2.61 tonnes per hectare | 0.0939 tonnes per hectare | USSR |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher cotton yields, China or USSR?
- China, at 6.59 tonnes per hectare against 2.59 tonnes per hectare in USSR as of 2024.
- What is the difference in cotton yields between China and USSR?
- 4 tonnes per hectare, with China ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for China and USSR?
- 31 years are reported by both, from 1961 to 1991.
- How do China and USSR rank globally for cotton yields?
- China ranks 1st and USSR ranks 1st of 100 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Cotton yields. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Yield is the amount produced per unit of land used, measured in tonnes per hectare.