Cereal yields in Nigeria
Nigeria: Cereal yields was 1.56 tonnes per hectare in 2024. ▲ Rising
Latest (2024)
1.56 tonnes per hectare
Change on year
up 0.6%
World rank
145th
of 186 countries
All-time high
1.66 tonnes per hectare
in 2022
All-time low
0.6078 tonnes per hectare
in 1966
Years of data
64
1961–2024
Cereal yields 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 per hectare.
Analysis
The most recent figure for cereal yields in Nigeria is 1.56 tonnes per hectare, measured in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.6% on the previous year and up 0.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cereal yields in Nigeria peaked at 1.66 tonnes per hectare in 2022 and was at its lowest, 0.6078 tonnes per hectare, in 1966.
That places Nigeria 145th out of 186 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Cereal yields in Nigeria, year by year
| Year | tonnes per hectare | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 0.743 tonnes per hectare | — |
| 1962 | 0.7828 tonnes per hectare | +5.4% |
| 1963 | 0.7637 tonnes per hectare | -2.4% |
| 1964 | 0.7178 tonnes per hectare | -6.0% |
| 1965 | 0.6871 tonnes per hectare | -4.3% |
| 1966 | 0.6078 tonnes per hectare | -11.5% |
| 1967 | 0.6935 tonnes per hectare | +14.1% |
| 1968 | 0.6711 tonnes per hectare | -3.2% |
| 1969 | 0.611 tonnes per hectare | -9.0% |
| 1970 | 0.7229 tonnes per hectare | +18.3% |
| 1971 | 0.7096 tonnes per hectare | -1.8% |
| 1972 | 0.6549 tonnes per hectare | -7.7% |
| 1973 | 0.6592 tonnes per hectare | +0.7% |
| 1974 | 0.9961 tonnes per hectare | +51.1% |
| 1975 | 0.9671 tonnes per hectare | -2.9% |
| 1976 | 0.7252 tonnes per hectare | -25.0% |
| 1977 | 0.9326 tonnes per hectare | +28.6% |
| 1978 | 0.9161 tonnes per hectare | -1.8% |
| 1979 | 1.05 tonnes per hectare | +15.0% |
| 1980 | 1.09 tonnes per hectare | +3.2% |
| 1981 | 1.66 tonnes per hectare | +52.3% |
| 1982 | 1.63 tonnes per hectare | -1.4% |
| 1983 | 1.53 tonnes per hectare | -6.5% |
| 1984 | 1.27 tonnes per hectare | -17.0% |
| 1985 | 1.25 tonnes per hectare | -1.5% |
| 1986 | 1.16 tonnes per hectare | -7.3% |
| 1987 | 1.2 tonnes per hectare | +4.0% |
| 1988 | 1.31 tonnes per hectare | +8.5% |
| 1989 | 1.25 tonnes per hectare | -4.0% |
| 1990 | 1.15 tonnes per hectare | -8.4% |
| 1991 | 1.09 tonnes per hectare | -4.7% |
| 1992 | 1.16 tonnes per hectare | +6.4% |
| 1993 | 1.15 tonnes per hectare | -0.9% |
| 1994 | 1.13 tonnes per hectare | -1.8% |
| 1995 | 1.21 tonnes per hectare | +6.9% |
| 1996 | 1.22 tonnes per hectare | +0.8% |
| 1997 | 1.18 tonnes per hectare | -3.1% |
| 1998 | 1.2 tonnes per hectare | +1.6% |
| 1999 | 1.24 tonnes per hectare | +3.1% |
| 2000 | 1.17 tonnes per hectare | -5.5% |
| 2001 | 1.23 tonnes per hectare | +5.3% |
| 2002 | 1.26 tonnes per hectare | +1.8% |
| 2003 | 1.31 tonnes per hectare | +4.3% |
| 2004 | 1.37 tonnes per hectare | +4.9% |
| 2005 | 1.42 tonnes per hectare | +3.6% |
| 2006 | 1.51 tonnes per hectare | +6.0% |
| 2007 | 1.4 tonnes per hectare | -7.1% |
| 2008 | 1.6 tonnes per hectare | +14.2% |
| 2009 | 1.53 tonnes per hectare | -4.2% |
| 2010 | 1.53 tonnes per hectare | -0.2% |
| 2011 | 1.33 tonnes per hectare | -12.7% |
| 2012 | 1.4 tonnes per hectare | +4.8% |
| 2013 | 1.3 tonnes per hectare | -7.3% |
| 2014 | 1.56 tonnes per hectare | +19.9% |
| 2015 | 1.53 tonnes per hectare | -1.8% |
| 2016 | 1.6 tonnes per hectare | +4.6% |
| 2017 | 1.51 tonnes per hectare | -5.7% |
| 2018 | 1.55 tonnes per hectare | +2.9% |
| 2019 | 1.63 tonnes per hectare | +5.2% |
| 2020 | 1.62 tonnes per hectare | -0.6% |
| 2021 | 1.62 tonnes per hectare | +0.1% |
| 2022 | 1.66 tonnes per hectare | +2.3% |
| 2023 | 1.55 tonnes per hectare | -6.7% |
| 2024 | 1.56 tonnes per hectare | +0.6% |
Nigeria compared with similar countries
- Nigeria's 1.56 tonnes per hectare is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 2.02 tonnes per hectare, 77% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Nigeria's 1.56 tonnes per hectare is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 1.34 tonnes per hectare, 1.2× the median. (46 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Cereal yields in Nigeria changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | +52.3% | 1.09 tonnes per hectare | 1.66 tonnes per hectare |
| 1974 | +51.1% | 0.6592 tonnes per hectare | 0.9961 tonnes per hectare |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.6975 tonnes per hectare | 0.6078 tonnes per hectare | 0.7828 tonnes per hectare | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.8337 tonnes per hectare | 0.6549 tonnes per hectare | 1.05 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.33 tonnes per hectare | 1.09 tonnes per hectare | 1.66 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.17 tonnes per hectare | 1.09 tonnes per hectare | 1.24 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.38 tonnes per hectare | 1.17 tonnes per hectare | 1.6 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.49 tonnes per hectare | 1.3 tonnes per hectare | 1.63 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.6 tonnes per hectare | 1.55 tonnes per hectare | 1.66 tonnes per hectare | 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 yields in Nigeria?
- Cereal yields in Nigeria was 1.56 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 Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 1.66 tonnes per hectare in 2022.
- What is the lowest cereal yields recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.6078 tonnes per hectare in 1966.
- How does Nigeria rank for cereal yields?
- Nigeria ranks 145th out of 186 countries with data for 2024.
- Is cereal yields rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.2%. 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 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.