Corn: Yield gap in China
China: Corn: Yield gap was 2.34 tonnes per hectare in 2024. ▼ Falling
Corn: Yield gap in China, 2000–2024
Source: Mueller et al. (2012); USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) (2026); Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in tonnes per hectare.
Analysis
In 2024, corn: yield gap in China stood at 2.34 tonnes per hectare. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 2.5% on the previous year and down 25.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, corn: yield gap in China peaked at 4.33 tonnes per hectare in 2000 and was at its lowest, 2.34 tonnes per hectare, in 2024.
That places China 52nd out of 115 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Corn: Yield gap in China, year by year
| Year | tonnes per hectare | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 4.33 tonnes per hectare | — |
| 2001 | 4.23 tonnes per hectare | -2.3% |
| 2002 | 4.06 tonnes per hectare | -4.1% |
| 2003 | 4.12 tonnes per hectare | +1.4% |
| 2004 | 3.81 tonnes per hectare | -7.5% |
| 2005 | 3.64 tonnes per hectare | -4.4% |
| 2006 | 3.6 tonnes per hectare | -1.1% |
| 2007 | 3.76 tonnes per hectare | +4.4% |
| 2008 | 3.37 tonnes per hectare | -10.3% |
| 2009 | 3.67 tonnes per hectare | +8.8% |
| 2010 | 3.47 tonnes per hectare | -5.5% |
| 2011 | 3.18 tonnes per hectare | -8.3% |
| 2012 | 3.06 tonnes per hectare | -3.8% |
| 2013 | 2.91 tonnes per hectare | -4.8% |
| 2014 | 3.12 tonnes per hectare | +7.1% |
| 2015 | 3.04 tonnes per hectare | -2.7% |
| 2016 | 2.96 tonnes per hectare | -2.4% |
| 2017 | 2.82 tonnes per hectare | -4.8% |
| 2018 | 2.83 tonnes per hectare | +0.2% |
| 2019 | 2.61 tonnes per hectare | -7.5% |
| 2020 | 2.61 tonnes per hectare | -0.0% |
| 2021 | 2.64 tonnes per hectare | +1.0% |
| 2022 | 2.49 tonnes per hectare | -5.5% |
| 2023 | 2.4 tonnes per hectare | -3.8% |
| 2024 | 2.34 tonnes per hectare | -2.5% |
China compared with similar countries
- China's 2.34 tonnes per hectare is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 1.95 tonnes per hectare, 1.2× the median. (36 countries reporting)
- China's 2.34 tonnes per hectare is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.0935 tonnes per hectare, 25.0× the median. (12 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 3.86 tonnes per hectare | 3.37 tonnes per hectare | 4.33 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 2010s | 3 tonnes per hectare | 2.61 tonnes per hectare | 3.47 tonnes per hectare | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.5 tonnes per hectare | 2.34 tonnes per hectare | 2.64 tonnes per hectare | 5 |
Countries ranked near China
More agriculture & rural data for China
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 1.98 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0666 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 923.03 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate -1.48 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.3366 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 6.7% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 6.7% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.3% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.7% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is corn: yield gap in China?
- Corn: yield gap in China was 2.34 tonnes per hectare in 2024, according to Mueller et al. (2012); USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) (2026); Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest corn: yield gap recorded in China?
- The highest recorded value was 4.33 tonnes per hectare in 2000.
- What is the lowest corn: yield gap recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.34 tonnes per hectare in 2024.
- How does China rank for corn: yield gap?
- China ranks 52nd out of 115 countries with data for 2024.
- Is corn: yield gap rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is down 25.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this China data come from?
- The figures come from Mueller et al. (2012); USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) (2026); Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Corn: Yield gap. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Yield gaps are the difference between attainable yields and actual yields, measured in tonnes per hectare. Negative values have been replaced by zero, meaning that the attainable yield has been reached.