Cereal production in Nigeria
Nigeria: Cereal production was 28.47 million tonnes in 2024. ▲ Rising
Latest (2024)
28.47 million tonnes
Change on year
up 1.5%
World rank
23rd
of 186 countries
All-time high
30.31 million tonnes
in 2022
All-time low
5.81 million tonnes
in 1972
Years of data
64
1961–2024
Cereal production in Nigeria, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in tonnes.
Analysis
Nigeria recorded 28.47 million tonnes for cereal production in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.5% on the previous year and up 7.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cereal production in Nigeria peaked at 30.31 million tonnes in 2022 and was at its lowest, 5.81 million tonnes, in 1972.
Nigeria ranks 23rd of 186 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Cereal production in Nigeria, year by year
| Year | tonnes | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 7.89 million tonnes | — |
| 1962 | 8.32 million tonnes | +5.5% |
| 1963 | 8.20 million tonnes | -1.5% |
| 1964 | 8.11 million tonnes | -1.2% |
| 1965 | 8.41 million tonnes | +3.8% |
| 1966 | 6.14 million tonnes | -27.0% |
| 1967 | 7.38 million tonnes | +20.1% |
| 1968 | 7.41 million tonnes | +0.4% |
| 1969 | 8.80 million tonnes | +18.8% |
| 1970 | 8.98 million tonnes | +2.1% |
| 1971 | 8.33 million tonnes | -7.3% |
| 1972 | 5.81 million tonnes | -30.2% |
| 1973 | 8.24 million tonnes | +41.9% |
| 1974 | 10.29 million tonnes | +24.8% |
| 1975 | 8.35 million tonnes | -18.8% |
| 1976 | 7.16 million tonnes | -14.2% |
| 1977 | 6.96 million tonnes | -2.8% |
| 1978 | 6.00 million tonnes | -13.7% |
| 1979 | 6.44 million tonnes | +7.2% |
| 1980 | 7.79 million tonnes | +21.0% |
| 1981 | 8.05 million tonnes | +3.4% |
| 1982 | 8.47 million tonnes | +5.2% |
| 1983 | 8.83 million tonnes | +4.3% |
| 1984 | 10.50 million tonnes | +19.0% |
| 1985 | 11.89 million tonnes | +13.2% |
| 1986 | 14.66 million tonnes | +23.3% |
| 1987 | 15.92 million tonnes | +8.6% |
| 1988 | 16.56 million tonnes | +4.0% |
| 1989 | 18.01 million tonnes | +8.7% |
| 1990 | 17.68 million tonnes | -1.8% |
| 1991 | 18.61 million tonnes | +5.3% |
| 1992 | 19.60 million tonnes | +5.3% |
| 1993 | 20.09 million tonnes | +2.5% |
| 1994 | 20.37 million tonnes | +1.4% |
| 1995 | 22.51 million tonnes | +10.5% |
| 1996 | 21.66 million tonnes | -3.8% |
| 1997 | 21.85 million tonnes | +0.9% |
| 1998 | 22.04 million tonnes | +0.9% |
| 1999 | 22.41 million tonnes | +1.7% |
| 2000 | 21.37 million tonnes | -4.6% |
| 2001 | 20.09 million tonnes | -6.0% |
| 2002 | 21.37 million tonnes | +6.4% |
| 2003 | 22.74 million tonnes | +6.4% |
| 2004 | 24.32 million tonnes | +7.0% |
| 2005 | 26.03 million tonnes | +7.0% |
| 2006 | 28.86 million tonnes | +10.9% |
| 2007 | 27.17 million tonnes | -5.9% |
| 2008 | 30.21 million tonnes | +11.2% |
| 2009 | 21.27 million tonnes | -29.6% |
| 2010 | 24.65 million tonnes | +15.9% |
| 2011 | 20.70 million tonnes | -16.0% |
| 2012 | 21.43 million tonnes | +3.5% |
| 2013 | 20.61 million tonnes | -3.8% |
| 2014 | 26.38 million tonnes | +28.0% |
| 2015 | 26.07 million tonnes | -1.2% |
| 2016 | 27.53 million tonnes | +5.6% |
| 2017 | 27.10 million tonnes | -1.6% |
| 2018 | 28.19 million tonnes | +4.0% |
| 2019 | 29.80 million tonnes | +5.7% |
| 2020 | 29.21 million tonnes | -2.0% |
| 2021 | 29.86 million tonnes | +2.2% |
| 2022 | 30.31 million tonnes | +1.5% |
| 2023 | 28.05 million tonnes | -7.5% |
| 2024 | 28.47 million tonnes | +1.5% |
Nigeria compared with similar countries
- Nigeria's 28.47 million tonnes is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 1.95 million tonnes, 14.6× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Nigeria's 28.47 million tonnes is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 1.65 million tonnes, 17.3× the median. (46 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 7.85 million tonnes | 6.14 million tonnes | 8.80 million tonnes | 9 |
| 1970s | 7.66 million tonnes | 5.81 million tonnes | 10.29 million tonnes | 10 |
| 1980s | 12.07 million tonnes | 7.79 million tonnes | 18.01 million tonnes | 10 |
| 1990s | 20.68 million tonnes | 17.68 million tonnes | 22.51 million tonnes | 10 |
| 2000s | 24.34 million tonnes | 20.09 million tonnes | 30.21 million tonnes | 10 |
| 2010s | 25.25 million tonnes | 20.61 million tonnes | 29.80 million tonnes | 10 |
| 2020s | 29.18 million tonnes | 28.05 million tonnes | 30.31 million tonnes | 5 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
More agriculture & rural data for Nigeria
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 2.38 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.2298 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 281.32 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate -0.1218 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0003 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.3622 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 23.0% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 23.0% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.4% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.6% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cereal production in Nigeria?
- Cereal production in Nigeria was 28.47 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 Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 30.31 million tonnes in 2022.
- What is the lowest cereal production recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.81 million tonnes in 1972.
- How does Nigeria rank for cereal production?
- Nigeria ranks 23rd out of 186 countries with data for 2024.
- Is cereal production rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Nigeria 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.