Roots, tubers, plantains and their products — Carbohydrate in South Africa
South Africa: Roots, tubers, plantains and their products — Carbohydrate was 12.6 g/cap/d in 2023. ▲ Rising
Roots, tubers, plantains and their products — Carbohydrate in South Africa, 2010–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in g/cap/d.
Analysis
In 2023, roots, tubers, plantains and their products — carbohydrate in South Africa stood at 12.6 g/cap/d.
That represents a change of down 6.7% on the previous year and down 6.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, roots, tubers, plantains and their products — carbohydrate in South Africa peaked at 15 g/cap/d in 2020 and was at its lowest, 12.5 g/cap/d, in 2016.
That places South Africa 131st out of 163 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 14 years of available data.
Roots, tubers, plantains and their products — Carbohydrate in South Africa, year by year
| Year | g/cap/d | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 12.8 g/cap/d | — |
| 2011 | 12.8 g/cap/d | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 13.3 g/cap/d | +3.9% |
| 2013 | 13.4 g/cap/d | +0.8% |
| 2014 | 13.3 g/cap/d | -0.7% |
| 2015 | 12.9 g/cap/d | -3.0% |
| 2016 | 12.5 g/cap/d | -3.1% |
| 2017 | 13 g/cap/d | +4.0% |
| 2018 | 13.1 g/cap/d | +0.8% |
| 2019 | 13 g/cap/d | -0.8% |
| 2020 | 15 g/cap/d | +15.4% |
| 2021 | 14.2 g/cap/d | -5.3% |
| 2022 | 13.5 g/cap/d | -4.9% |
| 2023 | 12.6 g/cap/d | -6.7% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 12.6 g/cap/d is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 21 g/cap/d, 60% of the median. (50 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 12.6 g/cap/d is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 75.4 g/cap/d, 17% of the median. (33 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 13.01 g/cap/d | 12.5 g/cap/d | 13.4 g/cap/d | 10 |
| 2020s | 13.82 g/cap/d | 12.6 g/cap/d | 15 g/cap/d | 4 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More agriculture & rural data for South Africa
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 7.11 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0283 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 186.56 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 0.812 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.3618 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 2.8% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 2.8% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 2.0% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.0% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is roots, tubers, plantains and their products — carbohydrate in South Africa?
- Roots, tubers, plantains and their products — carbohydrate in South Africa was 12.6 g/cap/d in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest roots, tubers, plantains and their products — carbohydrate recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 15 g/cap/d in 2020.
- What is the lowest roots, tubers, plantains and their products — carbohydrate recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 12.5 g/cap/d in 2016.
- How does South Africa rank for roots, tubers, plantains and their products — carbohydrate?
- South Africa ranks 131st out of 163 countries with data for 2023.
- Is roots, tubers, plantains and their products — carbohydrate rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 6.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Roots, tubers, plantains and their products — Carbohydrate (available) supply — Value. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
The dataset presents average daily per capita macro and micro nutrient availability by country and by FAO/WHO GIFT food groups (that are different from those used for the Food Balance Sheets), expressed in grams/milligrams/micrograms/kcal per capita per day. The population numbers used to calculate these statistics can be found in the Supply Utilization Accounts (SUA) dataset of FAOSTAT, as Total Population. Food availability quantities are derived from the SUA dataset. SUAs present a comprehensive picture of the pattern of a country's food supply and utilization during a specified reference period. The SUA shows for each food item - i.e. each primary commodity and a number of processed commodities potentially available for human consumption - the sources of supply and its utilization. The total quantity of foodstuffs produced in a country added to the total quantity imported and adjusted to any change in stocks that may have occurred since the beginning of the reference period gives the supply available during that period. On the utilization side a distinction is made between the quantities exported, fed to livestock, used for seed, put to manufacture for food use and non-food uses, losses during storage and transportation, and food supplies available for human consumption. The per capita supply of each such food item available for human consumption is then obtained by dividing the respective quantity by the related data on the population actually partaking of it.