Cereal yields in China
China: Cereal yields was 6.49 tonnes per hectare in 2024. ▲ Rising
Cereal yields 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 per hectare.
Analysis
China recorded 6.49 tonnes per hectare for cereal yields in 2024. That is the highest value across all 64 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.1% on the previous year and up 10.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cereal yields in China peaked at 6.49 tonnes per hectare in 2024 and was at its lowest, 1.19 tonnes per hectare, in 1961.
China ranks 24th of 185 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.67 tonnes per hectare | 1.19 tonnes per hectare | 1.94 tonnes per hectare | 9 |
| 1970s | 2.44 tonnes per hectare | 2.11 tonnes per hectare | 3.03 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 1980s | 3.68 tonnes per hectare | 2.94 tonnes per hectare | 4.01 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 1990s | 4.62 tonnes per hectare | 4.23 tonnes per hectare | 4.95 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 2000s | 5.13 tonnes per hectare | 4.75 tonnes per hectare | 5.55 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.94 tonnes per hectare | 5.53 tonnes per hectare | 6.28 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.39 tonnes per hectare | 6.3 tonnes per hectare | 6.49 tonnes per hectare | 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 yields in China?
- Cereal yields in China was 6.49 tonnes per hectare 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 yields recorded in China?
- The highest recorded value was 6.49 tonnes per hectare in 2024.
- What is the lowest cereal yields recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.19 tonnes per hectare in 1961.
- How does China rank for cereal yields?
- China ranks 24th out of 185 countries with data for 2024.
- Is cereal yields rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is up 10.1%. 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 yields. 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
Measured in tonnes per hectare.