Share of cereals allocated to human food in Ethiopia
Ethiopia: Share of cereals allocated to human food was 86.9% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Share of cereals allocated to human food in Ethiopia, 1993–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2023, share of cereals allocated to human food in Ethiopia stood at 86.9%.
The figure is up 1.0% on the previous year and up 1.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of cereals allocated to human food in Ethiopia peaked at 99.3% in 2002 and was at its lowest, 80.3%, in 2017.
That places Ethiopia 47th out of 192 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 31 years of available data.
Share of cereals allocated to human food in Ethiopia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 98.8% | — |
| 1994 | 98.9% | +0.1% |
| 1995 | 99.0% | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 99.0% | +0.1% |
| 1997 | 99.1% | +0.1% |
| 1998 | 99.1% | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 99.2% | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 99.2% | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 99.3% | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 99.3% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 98.2% | -1.1% |
| 2004 | 98.1% | -0.1% |
| 2005 | 95.4% | -2.8% |
| 2006 | 95.0% | -0.4% |
| 2007 | 91.7% | -3.5% |
| 2008 | 88.2% | -3.8% |
| 2009 | 83.3% | -5.5% |
| 2010 | 87.2% | +4.6% |
| 2011 | 85.8% | -1.5% |
| 2012 | 85.9% | +0.1% |
| 2013 | 85.4% | -0.5% |
| 2014 | 82.5% | -3.4% |
| 2015 | 82.1% | -0.5% |
| 2016 | 81.5% | -0.7% |
| 2017 | 80.3% | -1.6% |
| 2018 | 80.9% | +0.8% |
| 2019 | 81.7% | +1.1% |
| 2020 | 81.5% | -0.3% |
| 2021 | 81.9% | +0.6% |
| 2022 | 86.1% | +5.0% |
| 2023 | 86.9% | +1.0% |
Ethiopia compared with similar countries
- Ethiopia's 86.9% is below the median for low income countries, which is 94.6%, 92% of the median. (23 countries reporting)
- Ethiopia's 86.9% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 88.3%, 98% of the median. (45 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 99.0% | 98.8% | 99.2% | 7 |
| 2000s | 94.8% | 83.3% | 99.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 83.3% | 80.3% | 87.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 84.1% | 81.5% | 86.9% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Ethiopia
More agriculture & rural data for Ethiopia
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual -20.36 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.3282 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 306.11 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 1.93 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0008 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.7589 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 32.8% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 32.8% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 9.7% (2023)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.5% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of cereals allocated to human food in Ethiopia?
- Share of cereals allocated to human food in Ethiopia was 86.9% in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of cereals allocated to human food recorded in Ethiopia?
- The highest recorded value was 99.3% in 2002.
- What is the lowest share of cereals allocated to human food recorded in Ethiopia?
- The lowest recorded value was 80.3% in 2017.
- How does Ethiopia rank for share of cereals allocated to human food?
- Ethiopia ranks 47th out of 192 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of cereals allocated to human food rising or falling in Ethiopia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ethiopia 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 Share of cereals allocated to human food. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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About this data
Share of cereals available for domestic use – after accounting for trade – that is allocated to direct human consumption, relative to the total used for human food, animal feed, and industrial purposes. This excludes cereals used for seed, processing, and losses.