Cereal production in China
China: Cereal production was 651.36 million tonnes in 2024. ▲ Rising
Cereal production in China, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in tonnes.
Analysis
In 2024, cereal production in China stood at 651.36 million tonnes. That is the highest value across all 64 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.7% on the previous year and up 16.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cereal production in China peaked at 651.36 million tonnes in 2024 and was at its lowest, 107.00 million tonnes, in 1961.
China ranks 1st of 185 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 151.97 million tonnes | 107.00 million tonnes | 178.02 million tonnes | 9 |
| 1970s | 234.74 million tonnes | 197.63 million tonnes | 289.52 million tonnes | 10 |
| 1980s | 333.38 million tonnes | 277.19 million tonnes | 364.82 million tonnes | 10 |
| 1990s | 421.98 million tonnes | 393.89 million tonnes | 456.25 million tonnes | 10 |
| 2000s | 428.19 million tonnes | 374.82 million tonnes | 482.55 million tonnes | 10 |
| 2010s | 574.43 million tonnes | 497.79 million tonnes | 617.71 million tonnes | 10 |
| 2020s | 634.18 million tonnes | 615.32 million tonnes | 651.36 million tonnes | 5 |
Countries ranked near China
More agriculture & rural data for China
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 1.30 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 6.7% (2025)
- Rural population 473.41 million (2025)
- Rural population growth -1.5% (2025)
- Rural population 33.7% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.7% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.3% (2024)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 6.7% (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 6.7% (2025)
- Land under cereal production 99.99 million hectares (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cereal production in China?
- Cereal production in China was 651.36 million tonnes in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest cereal production recorded in China?
- The highest recorded value was 651.36 million tonnes in 2024.
- What is the lowest cereal production recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 107.00 million tonnes in 1961.
- How does China rank for cereal production?
- China ranks 1st out of 185 countries with data for 2024.
- Is cereal production rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is up 16.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this China data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Cereal production. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 64 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Cereals include wheat, rice, maize, barley, oats, rye, millet, sorghum, buckwheat, and mixed grains.