Wheat seed quantity (FAO, metric tonnes) by country
Data include the amounts of the commodity in question set aside for sowing or planting (or generally for reproduction purposes, e.g. sugar cane planted, potatoes for seed, eggs for hatching and fish for bait, whether domestically produced or imported) during the reference period. Account is taken of double or...
What the numbers show
Wheat seed quantity (FAO, metric tonnes) is currently reported for 31 countries. The highest value is 231,290 FAO, metric tonnes in Egypt; the lowest is 16 FAO, metric tonnes in Botswana.
The median across all reporting countries is 976 FAO, metric tonnes, and the mean is 28,115 FAO, metric tonnes.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 14,456.
Over the past decade 20 countries rose and 11 fell. The largest increase was in Mauritania (up 468.4%), and the largest decrease in Botswana (down 61.0%).
Wheat seed quantity: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egypt | 231,290 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | up 38.5% | rising |
| 2 | Morocco | 230,000 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | down 12.4% | rising |
| 3 | Algeria | 153,300 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | down 3.0% | falling |
| 4 | Ethiopia | 115,500 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | up 64.0% | rising |
| 5 | Tunisia | 67,500 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | up 19.0% | falling |
| 7 | Sudan | 23,876 FAO, metric tonnes | 2010 | up 124.8% | volatile |
| 8 | Tanzania | 10,829 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | up 253.1% | rising |
| 9 | Libya | 10,759 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | down 23.4% | falling |
| 10 | Kenya | 10,521 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | down 9.2% | rising |
| 11 | Rwanda | 3,543 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | up 267.5% | volatile |
| 12 | Zambia | 3,010 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | up 213.5% | volatile |
| 13 | Nigeria | 1,900 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | down 30.9% | volatile |
| 14 | Eritrea | 1,796 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | down 38.5% | falling |
| 15 | Zimbabwe | 1,546 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | down 60.4% | volatile |
| 16 | Uganda | 1,040 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | up 62.5% | volatile |
| 17 | Lesotho | 976 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | down 56.8% | volatile |
| 18 | Burundi | 920 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | up 15.0% | rising |
| 19 | Democratic Republic of Congo | 621 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | up 26.5% | rising |
| 20 | Mali | 591 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | up 462.9% | volatile |
| 21 | Madagascar | 455 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | up 8.1% | volatile |
| 22 | Chad | 271 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | up 171.0% | volatile |
| 23 | Niger | 270 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | up 63.6% | volatile |
| 24 | Angola | 215 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | up 0.5% | volatile |
| 25 | Somalia | 213 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | down 5.8% | flat |
| 26 | Namibia | 154 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | up 33.9% | volatile |
| 27 | Mozambique | 147 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | up 28.9% | volatile |
| 28 | Mauritania | 108 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | up 468.4% | volatile |
| 29 | Malawi | 97 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | down 55.5% | volatile |
| 30 | Cameroon | 73 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | up 135.5% | volatile |
| 31 | Eswatini | 36 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | up 63.6% | falling |
| 32 | Botswana | 16 FAO, metric tonnes | 2011 | down 61.0% | flat |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- Africa 887,003 FAO, metric tonnes
- North Africa 692,849 FAO, metric tonnes
- Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) 194,154 FAO, metric tonnes
- Sub-Saharan Africa 194,154 FAO, metric tonnes
- Sub-Saharan Africa excluding South Africa 154,848 FAO, metric tonnes
- Sub-Saharan Africa excluding South Africa and Nigeria 152,948 FAO, metric tonnes
- South Africa 39,306 FAO, metric tonnes
About this data
Data include the amounts of the commodity in question set aside for sowing or planting (or generally for reproduction purposes, e.g. sugar cane planted, potatoes for seed, eggs for hatching and fish for bait, whether domestically produced or imported) during the reference period. Account is taken of double or successive sowing or planting whenever it occurs. The data of seed include also, when it is the case, the quantities necessary for sowing or planting the area relating to crops harvested green for fodder or for food.(e.g. green peas, green beans, maize for forage) Data for seed element are stored in tonnes (t). Whenever official data were not available, seed figures have been estimated either as a percentage of supply (e.g. eggs for hatching) or by multiplying a seed rate with the area under the crop of the subsequent year.