Cereal yields in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe: Cereal yields was 1.07 tonnes per hectare in 2024. ▼ Falling
Latest (2024)
1.07 tonnes per hectare
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
164th
of 186 countries
All-time high
1.87 tonnes per hectare
in 1985
All-time low
0.3097 tonnes per hectare
in 2008
Years of data
64
1961–2024
Cereal yields in Zimbabwe, 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 Zimbabwe is 1.07 tonnes per hectare, measured in 2024.
That represents a change of up 28.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cereal yields in Zimbabwe peaked at 1.87 tonnes per hectare in 1985 and was at its lowest, 0.3097 tonnes per hectare, in 2008.
Zimbabwe ranks 164th of 186 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 64 years of available data.
Cereal yields in Zimbabwe, year by year
| Year | tonnes per hectare | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 0.9197 tonnes per hectare | — |
| 1962 | 0.9059 tonnes per hectare | -1.5% |
| 1963 | 0.8225 tonnes per hectare | -9.2% |
| 1964 | 0.8205 tonnes per hectare | -0.2% |
| 1965 | 0.9308 tonnes per hectare | +13.4% |
| 1966 | 0.9378 tonnes per hectare | +0.8% |
| 1967 | 1.29 tonnes per hectare | +38.0% |
| 1968 | 1.02 tonnes per hectare | -21.2% |
| 1969 | 1.15 tonnes per hectare | +12.3% |
| 1970 | 0.9423 tonnes per hectare | -17.7% |
| 1971 | 1.39 tonnes per hectare | +47.7% |
| 1972 | 1.64 tonnes per hectare | +17.6% |
| 1973 | 0.9613 tonnes per hectare | -41.3% |
| 1974 | 1.49 tonnes per hectare | +54.5% |
| 1975 | 1.36 tonnes per hectare | -8.4% |
| 1976 | 1.39 tonnes per hectare | +2.5% |
| 1977 | 1.48 tonnes per hectare | +5.9% |
| 1978 | 1.38 tonnes per hectare | -6.6% |
| 1979 | 1.14 tonnes per hectare | -17.0% |
| 1980 | 1.18 tonnes per hectare | +3.5% |
| 1981 | 1.75 tonnes per hectare | +47.5% |
| 1982 | 1.14 tonnes per hectare | -34.9% |
| 1983 | 0.633 tonnes per hectare | -44.4% |
| 1984 | 0.7896 tonnes per hectare | +24.7% |
| 1985 | 1.87 tonnes per hectare | +136.4% |
| 1986 | 1.69 tonnes per hectare | -9.3% |
| 1987 | 0.853 tonnes per hectare | -49.6% |
| 1988 | 1.59 tonnes per hectare | +86.4% |
| 1989 | 1.51 tonnes per hectare | -5.2% |
| 1990 | 1.62 tonnes per hectare | +7.7% |
| 1991 | 1.34 tonnes per hectare | -17.7% |
| 1992 | 0.4121 tonnes per hectare | -69.2% |
| 1993 | 1.5 tonnes per hectare | +264.5% |
| 1994 | 1.13 tonnes per hectare | -24.5% |
| 1995 | 0.5482 tonnes per hectare | -51.7% |
| 1996 | 1.26 tonnes per hectare | +129.6% |
| 1997 | 1.05 tonnes per hectare | -16.2% |
| 1998 | 1.02 tonnes per hectare | -3.6% |
| 1999 | 1.07 tonnes per hectare | +5.2% |
| 2000 | 1.16 tonnes per hectare | +8.5% |
| 2001 | 1.19 tonnes per hectare | +3.0% |
| 2002 | 0.5391 tonnes per hectare | -54.8% |
| 2003 | 0.7953 tonnes per hectare | +47.5% |
| 2004 | 1.21 tonnes per hectare | +51.6% |
| 2005 | 0.6538 tonnes per hectare | -45.8% |
| 2006 | 0.9342 tonnes per hectare | +42.9% |
| 2007 | 0.8067 tonnes per hectare | -13.6% |
| 2008 | 0.3097 tonnes per hectare | -61.6% |
| 2009 | 0.4524 tonnes per hectare | +46.1% |
| 2010 | 0.7334 tonnes per hectare | +62.1% |
| 2011 | 0.5874 tonnes per hectare | -19.9% |
| 2012 | 0.6957 tonnes per hectare | +18.4% |
| 2013 | 0.6685 tonnes per hectare | -3.9% |
| 2014 | 0.8314 tonnes per hectare | +24.4% |
| 2015 | 0.5575 tonnes per hectare | -32.9% |
| 2016 | 0.4351 tonnes per hectare | -22.0% |
| 2017 | 1.2 tonnes per hectare | +176.6% |
| 2018 | 1.25 tonnes per hectare | +4.2% |
| 2019 | 0.7496 tonnes per hectare | -40.2% |
| 2020 | 1.15 tonnes per hectare | +53.5% |
| 2021 | 1.55 tonnes per hectare | +34.4% |
| 2022 | 0.8308 tonnes per hectare | -46.3% |
| 2023 | 1.07 tonnes per hectare | +28.8% |
| 2024 | 1.07 tonnes per hectare | +0.0% |
Zimbabwe compared with similar countries
- Zimbabwe's 1.07 tonnes per hectare is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 2.02 tonnes per hectare, 53% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Zimbabwe's 1.07 tonnes per hectare is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 1.34 tonnes per hectare, 80% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Cereal yields in Zimbabwe 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | +264.5% | 0.4121 tonnes per hectare | 1.5 tonnes per hectare |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.9775 tonnes per hectare | 0.8205 tonnes per hectare | 1.29 tonnes per hectare | 9 |
| 1970s | 1.32 tonnes per hectare | 0.9423 tonnes per hectare | 1.64 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.3 tonnes per hectare | 0.633 tonnes per hectare | 1.87 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.1 tonnes per hectare | 0.4121 tonnes per hectare | 1.62 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.805 tonnes per hectare | 0.3097 tonnes per hectare | 1.21 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.7716 tonnes per hectare | 0.4351 tonnes per hectare | 1.25 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.13 tonnes per hectare | 0.8308 tonnes per hectare | 1.55 tonnes per hectare | 5 |
Countries ranked near Zimbabwe
More agriculture & rural data for Zimbabwe
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 34.41 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0947 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 286.19 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 0.8815 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0002 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.595 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 9.5% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 9.5% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.9% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.3% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cereal yields in Zimbabwe?
- Cereal yields in Zimbabwe was 1.07 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 Zimbabwe?
- The highest recorded value was 1.87 tonnes per hectare in 1985.
- What is the lowest cereal yields recorded in Zimbabwe?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3097 tonnes per hectare in 2008.
- How does Zimbabwe rank for cereal yields?
- Zimbabwe ranks 164th out of 186 countries with data for 2024.
- Is cereal yields rising or falling in Zimbabwe?
- Over the last ten years it is up 28.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Zimbabwe 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.