Cereal yields in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Cereal yields was 4.07 tonnes per hectare in 2024. ▲ Rising
Latest (2024)
4.07 tonnes per hectare
Change on year
up 6.9%
World rank
64th
of 186 countries
All-time high
4.73 tonnes per hectare
in 2020
All-time low
1.68 tonnes per hectare
in 1965
Years of data
64
1961–2024
Cereal yields in Sri Lanka, 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
Sri Lanka recorded 4.07 tonnes per hectare for cereal yields in 2024.
That represents a change of up 6.9% on the previous year and up 7.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cereal yields in Sri Lanka peaked at 4.73 tonnes per hectare in 2020 and was at its lowest, 1.68 tonnes per hectare, in 1965.
Sri Lanka ranks 64th of 186 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Cereal yields in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | tonnes per hectare | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 1.77 tonnes per hectare | — |
| 1962 | 1.87 tonnes per hectare | +5.9% |
| 1963 | 1.85 tonnes per hectare | -1.1% |
| 1964 | 1.92 tonnes per hectare | +3.7% |
| 1965 | 1.68 tonnes per hectare | -12.3% |
| 1966 | 1.73 tonnes per hectare | +3.1% |
| 1967 | 2.04 tonnes per hectare | +17.6% |
| 1968 | 2.28 tonnes per hectare | +12.0% |
| 1969 | 2.43 tonnes per hectare | +6.3% |
| 1970 | 2.15 tonnes per hectare | -11.2% |
| 1971 | 1.94 tonnes per hectare | -10.0% |
| 1972 | 1.97 tonnes per hectare | +1.4% |
| 1973 | 1.84 tonnes per hectare | -6.3% |
| 1974 | 1.89 tonnes per hectare | +2.3% |
| 1975 | 1.75 tonnes per hectare | -7.1% |
| 1976 | 1.81 tonnes per hectare | +3.4% |
| 1977 | 2.02 tonnes per hectare | +11.6% |
| 1978 | 2.14 tonnes per hectare | +6.0% |
| 1979 | 2.34 tonnes per hectare | +9.0% |
| 1980 | 2.5 tonnes per hectare | +7.0% |
| 1981 | 2.55 tonnes per hectare | +1.9% |
| 1982 | 2.76 tonnes per hectare | +8.1% |
| 1983 | 3.07 tonnes per hectare | +11.3% |
| 1984 | 2.63 tonnes per hectare | -14.1% |
| 1985 | 2.96 tonnes per hectare | +12.5% |
| 1986 | 2.99 tonnes per hectare | +1.0% |
| 1987 | 3 tonnes per hectare | +0.2% |
| 1988 | 2.92 tonnes per hectare | -2.7% |
| 1989 | 2.88 tonnes per hectare | -1.2% |
| 1990 | 2.96 tonnes per hectare | +2.9% |
| 1991 | 2.93 tonnes per hectare | -1.3% |
| 1992 | 2.96 tonnes per hectare | +1.1% |
| 1993 | 3.02 tonnes per hectare | +2.2% |
| 1994 | 2.9 tonnes per hectare | -4.0% |
| 1995 | 3.05 tonnes per hectare | +5.2% |
| 1996 | 3.01 tonnes per hectare | -1.4% |
| 1997 | 3.14 tonnes per hectare | +4.5% |
| 1998 | 3.4 tonnes per hectare | +8.2% |
| 1999 | 3.19 tonnes per hectare | -6.1% |
| 2000 | 3.34 tonnes per hectare | +4.6% |
| 2001 | 3.42 tonnes per hectare | +2.6% |
| 2002 | 3.41 tonnes per hectare | -0.6% |
| 2003 | 3.28 tonnes per hectare | -3.6% |
| 2004 | 3.56 tonnes per hectare | +8.6% |
| 2005 | 3.47 tonnes per hectare | -2.7% |
| 2006 | 3.58 tonnes per hectare | +3.2% |
| 2007 | 3.73 tonnes per hectare | +4.1% |
| 2008 | 3.62 tonnes per hectare | -3.0% |
| 2009 | 3.79 tonnes per hectare | +4.8% |
| 2010 | 3.97 tonnes per hectare | +4.8% |
| 2011 | 3.52 tonnes per hectare | -11.4% |
| 2012 | 3.58 tonnes per hectare | +1.8% |
| 2013 | 3.83 tonnes per hectare | +7.0% |
| 2014 | 3.8 tonnes per hectare | -0.9% |
| 2015 | 3.94 tonnes per hectare | +3.8% |
| 2016 | 3.85 tonnes per hectare | -2.5% |
| 2017 | 3.05 tonnes per hectare | -20.8% |
| 2018 | 3.76 tonnes per hectare | +23.5% |
| 2019 | 4.72 tonnes per hectare | +25.6% |
| 2020 | 4.73 tonnes per hectare | +0.2% |
| 2021 | 4.54 tonnes per hectare | -4.1% |
| 2022 | 3.03 tonnes per hectare | -33.2% |
| 2023 | 3.8 tonnes per hectare | +25.4% |
| 2024 | 4.07 tonnes per hectare | +6.9% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 4.07 tonnes per hectare is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 3.39 tonnes per hectare, 1.2× the median. (53 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 4.07 tonnes per hectare is above the median for South Asia, which is 3.59 tonnes per hectare, 1.1× the median. (6 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.95 tonnes per hectare | 1.68 tonnes per hectare | 2.43 tonnes per hectare | 9 |
| 1970s | 1.99 tonnes per hectare | 1.75 tonnes per hectare | 2.34 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 1980s | 2.82 tonnes per hectare | 2.5 tonnes per hectare | 3.07 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 1990s | 3.06 tonnes per hectare | 2.9 tonnes per hectare | 3.4 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 2000s | 3.52 tonnes per hectare | 3.28 tonnes per hectare | 3.79 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.8 tonnes per hectare | 3.05 tonnes per hectare | 4.72 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.04 tonnes per hectare | 3.03 tonnes per hectare | 4.73 tonnes per hectare | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More agriculture & rural data for Sri Lanka
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 9.1 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0836 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 418.3 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate -0.9172 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0002 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.7955 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 8.4% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 8.4% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 2.7% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.9% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cereal yields in Sri Lanka?
- Cereal yields in Sri Lanka was 4.07 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 Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 4.73 tonnes per hectare in 2020.
- What is the lowest cereal yields recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.68 tonnes per hectare in 1965.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for cereal yields?
- Sri Lanka ranks 64th out of 186 countries with data for 2024.
- Is cereal yields rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sri Lanka 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.