Global Rice Industry - Overview

May 07, 2024

Rice, a staple food for over half the world's population, finds its largest consumption in Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South America. The predominant global rice variety, Oryza sativa, is a grass family (Graminaceae) plant species believed to have originated in Asia. Despite its widespread cultivation, economically viable rice production necessitates specific physical requirements. These include high daytime temperatures coupled with cooler nights during the growing season, an abundant and controlled water supply, a level land surface facilitating uniform flooding and drainage, and a subsoil hard-pan layer that inhibits water percolation through the rice bed. This unique combination of factors restricts commercially sound rice cultivation to select geographical areas worldwide.

Type of Rice	Where is it grown	% of global rice trade
Indica	Tropical and subtropical regions such as India, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, southern China, and Brazil	62–66%
Aromatic (jasmine and basmati)	Primarily Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, and Pakistan	23–25%
Japonica	Regions with cooler climates such as Japan, North Korea, South Korea, certain regions of China, California, the European Union, Russia, Australia, and Egypt	9–10%
Glutinous and other specialty rice types	Primarily Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos	2–3%

The rice market is currently valued at USD 400 billion, expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.71% between 2023 and 2028. Asia-Pacific is the largest rice market. This is attributable to higher per capita consumption, production, and regional population. Most of the rice is grown and consumed in the Asian region, from Japan in the east to Pakistan in the west. Rice is the second-most vital cereal crop, after wheat, in Asia. It is a crop that ensures food security in many developing countries of Southeast Asian as well as East Asia regions. Over recent years, the rice market has witnessed considerable growth due to the growing demand for rice in emerging and developing nations globally.

Global Rice Production and Consumption

Globally, the top rice-producing country is China, followed by India.

Top 11 rice - countries, 2018/19–22/23
Country	Annual average production, milled basis (million tons)	Annual average consumption, milled basis (million tons)	Surplus/Deficit milled basis (million tons)
China	147.69	153.68	(5.99)
India	125.04	109.17	15.87
Bangladesh	35.51	36.73	(1.22)
Indonesia	34.36	35.37	(1.01)
Vietnam	27.10	21.45	5.65
Thailand	19.53	12.70	6.83
Burna	12.53	10.37	2.16
Philippines	12.25	15.40	(3.15)
Japan	7.59	8.18	(0.59)
Pakistan	7.53	3.70	3.83
Nigeria	5.00	7.33	(2.33)

Global Rice Trade

Rice Exports

Since 2012, India has been the largest global rice exporter, currently shipping more rice annually than the combined shipments of the next three largest exporters. India’s rice exports increased by almost 49 percent in 2020 and then rose 46 percent more in 2021 to more than 21 million tons before peaking in 2022 at 22.1 million. India’s exports are projected to decline in 2023 and 2024 due to Government imposed export restrictions. The next largest rice exporters are Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, the United States, China, Myanmar, and Cambodia, which, along with India, account for a combined 90 percent of the global rice trade. Cambodia started increasing exports in 2009 and are currently near-record high. China substantially increased its exports in 2017 and returned as a major exporter in 2018, although shipments have recently declined. In contrast, U.S. rice exports dropped by 26 percent in 2022 due to a small crop and uncompetitive prices. Thailand’s exports dropped substantially in 2019 and 2020, and despite some expansion, have remained well below past levels. Pakistan’s exports dropped 20 percent in 2023 due to severe flooding in the summer of 2022.

Country	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Total Global	29,721	29,510	31,882	36,484	40,008	39,490	44,454	43,026	40,533	48,722	48,256	43,923	45,369	52,178	56,100	52,723	53,338
India	3,383	2,149	2,228	4,637	10,250	10,480	11,588	11,046	10,062	12,573	11,791	9,813	14,577	21,240	22,122	17,733	16,500
Thailand	10,011	8,570	9,047	10,647	6,945	6,722	10,969	9,779	9,891	11,658	11,213	7,565	5,715	6,283	7,682	8,736	8,400
Vietnam	4,649	5,950	6,734	7,000	7,717	6,700	6,325	6,606	5,088	6,488	6,590	6,581	6,167	6,272	7,054	8,225	7,800
Pakistan	3,050	3,187	4,000	3,414	3,399	4,126	3,700	4,000	4,100	3,647	3,913	4,550	3,934	3,928	4,525	4,503	5,500
United States	3,267	3,017	3,868	3,246	3,298	3,295	2,947	3,381	3,343	3,349	2,776	3,142	2,857	2,950	2,191	2,357	2,825
China	969	783	619	487	267	447	393	262	368	1,173	2,059	2,720	2,265	2,407	2,172	1,602	2,200
Cambodia	315	820	750	860	900	1,075	1,000	1,150	1,050	1,150	1,300	1,350	1,350	1,850	1,700	1,900	2,150
Myanmar	541	1,052	700	1,075	1,357	1,163	1,688	1,735	1,300	3,350	2,750	2,700	2,300	1,900	2,335	1,577	1,800
Brazil	511	591	430	1,296	1,105	830	852	895	641	594	1,245	954	1,240	782	1,445	1,208	1,300
Uruguay	742	926	808	841	1,056	939	957	718	996	982	802	809	969	704	982	1,003	950
Paraguay	69	123	135	208	262	365	380	371	556	538	653	689	803	640	752	857	780
Guyana	182	241	298	260	265	346	446	513	478	516	448	511	552	406	338	399	440
Argentina	408	594	468	732	608	526	494	310	527	391	375	388	335	400	402	293	375
European Union	152	146	278	237	194	203	284	251	270	570	527	506	543	412	402	365	360
Australia	48	17	54	311	449	460	404	323	165	187	262	134	42	72	207	250	260
Turkey	8	19	52	90	99	8	293	252	321	280	213	202	234	241	227	258	250
South Africa	24	24	31	31	43	56	114	127	145	109	113	111	120	121	145	159	160
Taiwan	34	1	1	11	13	11	19	75	102	20	57	91	224	192	141	129	150
Japan	146	193	161	104	217	107	63	65	50	50	60	67	40	110	115	120	120
South Korea	0	4	9	4	2	2	2	2	2	4	64	53	55	52	55	61	100
Malaysia	1	1	1	1	0	11	37	73	45	1	20	30	30	100	114	123	100
Russia	21	90	154	162	314	140	187	163	198	175	139	154	127	121	100	100	100
Suriname	41	42	78	42	62	63	87	90	109	90	95	100	100	105	110	110	100
Guinea	0	50	50	80	80	80	100	50	80	80	80	100	100	80	80	80	80
Kazakhstan	25	6	43	62	47	50	52	66	65	95	95	88	99	118	101	108	80
Colombia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	1	1	50	55	60	65	65
Cote d'Ivoire	0	0	14	28	27	35	40	50	70	70	80	100	50	25	20	21	50
Laos	0	13	22	9	19	16	18	60	64	71	84	81	94	50	100	40	50
Peru	20	80	55	50	50	50	70	30	50	100	80	105	70	20	30	50	50
Senegal	0	5	4	23	10	20	10	10	10	10	10	10	20	90	90	80	50
Tanzania	20	15	20	20	20	55	30	30	30	30	40	30	80	285	115	50	50
United Kingdom	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	61	65	49	62	27	33	30	40
Ecuador	160	100	100	22	44	14	43	16	1	0	0	29	44	21	45	25	25
Costa Rica	11	6	4	6	4	4	6	6	8	8	8	13	17	20	21	20	20
Uganda	25	40	35	40	70	70	30	30	0	20	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Sri Lanka	0	0	10	12	26	5	6	0	5	5	5	5	8	7	7	8	8
Egypt	750	575	570	320	600	700	600	250	200	100	50	20	20	5	5	5	5
Mexico	10	10	4	3	1	2	2	2	2	90	109	12	18	20	5	5	5
Dominican Republic	28	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	0
Nicaragua	0	0	0	0	0	13	5	5	11	8	10	5	6	6	0	0	0
Saudi Arabia	20	20	20	20	20	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Venezuela	80	30	20	75	125	250	200	180	100	40	20	0	0	0	0	0	0
Others	0	20	7	18	43	51	13	54	22	24	34	35	32	41	52	48	30

Quantity in Thousand MT

Global Rice Imports

On the global rice import side, Sub-Saharan Africa remains the largest rice importing region, slightly exceeding total imports by all of Asia and accounting for around 30 percent of global imports. The Middle East remains a large global import market, accounting for more than 70 percent of the region’s rice consumption. Southeast Asia is also an important import market, showing recent growth after years of stagnation as the region’s production expanded. The Philippines is the largest rice importer in Southeast Asia and is currently the largest global importer, importing almost 4 million tons annually. East Asia’s rice imports were boosted in 2021 and 2022 by China’s large purchases but imports for this region have since returned to a more normal level. South Asia is the smallest rice importing region in Asia, although Bangladesh’s imports can rapidly increase after a crop shortfall, as in 2017 and 2018 after a weather-reduced harvest and in 2021, after a weak harvest. Rice imports by South America are projected to expand around 13 percent in 2023, with Brazil accounting for most of the expected increase. From 2012–2022, South American imports were nearly flat due to flat-to-declining consumption in most countries’ growth and near-steady regional production. Both North America and the EU are currently importing record or near-record amounts of rice, although both regions have a low per capita rice consumption compared with Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. These regions are large markets for Asian aromatic varieties, specialty rices that are high-priced and account for a growing share of global rice trade.

Country	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Total Global	29,721	29,510	31,882	36,484	40,008	39,490	44,454	43,026	40,533	48,722	48,256	43,923	45,369	52,178	56,100	52,723	53,338
Philippines	2,500	2,000	2,400	1,200	1,500	1,000	1,800	2,000	800	1,200	2,500	2,900	2,450	2,950	3,800	3,900	4,100
Indonesia	350	250	1,150	3,098	1,960	650	1,225	1,350	1,050	350	2,350	600	550	650	740	3,500	3,500
China	295	337	366	575	2,900	3,500	4,450	5,150	4,600	5,900	4,500	2,800	3,200	4,921	6,155	2,597	2,300
European Union	1,526	1,393	1,235	1,496	1,313	1,375	1,556	1,786	1,816	1,591	1,633	1,799	1,999	1,862	2,492	2,169	2,300
Iraq	975	1,089	1,188	1,036	1,478	1,294	1,104	1,028	1,026	1,161	1,237	1,263	972	1,315	2,124	1,845	2,000
Nigeria	1,800	2,000	2,000	2,550	3,400	2,400	3,200	2,100	2,100	2,500	2,100	1,800	1,800	2,100	2,400	2,000	2,000
Vietnam	300	500	400	500	100	100	300	400	300	500	500	500	400	1,800	1,700	1,800	1,600
Saudi Arabia	1,166	1,072	1,069	1,059	1,193	1,326	1,459	1,601	1,260	1,195	1,290	1,425	1,613	1,157	1,324	1,487	1,500
Cote d'Ivoire	800	800	840	935	1,265	830	950	1,150	1,300	1,350	1,500	1,350	1,100	1,450	1,560	1,313	1,400
Senegal	860	715	685	805	918	902	960	990	980	1,100	1,100	1,000	1,050	1,250	1,500	1,300	1,400
United States	651	682	562	621	640	675	755	757	767	787	916	982	1,210	978	1,315	1,360	1,400
Malaysia	1,039	1,086	907	1,076	1,006	885	989	1,051	823	900	800	1,000	1,220	1,160	1,240	1,410	1,200
Iran	1,430	1,470	1,520	1,870	1,500	2,220	1,400	1,300	1,100	1,400	1,250	1,400	1,110	880	1,250	751	1,150
South Africa	650	745	733	885	870	990	910	993	958	1,054	1,071	944	1,000	1,000	1,034	1,221	1,100
Bangladesh	1,658	146	660	1,486	53	114	1,335	598	35	2,400	1,400	80	20	2,675	950	365	900
Brazil	417	650	778	591	732	712	586	348	712	779	575	691	876	685	826	983	900
United Arab Emirates	350	400	450	480	520	540	560	580	670	700	775	850	850	775	1,025	900	875
Guinea	175	300	320	370	370	360	520	420	650	600	865	530	670	940	850	870	850
Mexico	578	610	593	705	679	749	685	673	708	913	776	740	843	759	796	728	825
Ghana	300	410	320	620	595	725	590	580	700	650	830	900	850	1,050	620	810	700
Japan	533	750	649	742	650	690	669	688	685	678	670	678	676	662	669	709	685
United Kingdom	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	668	536	587	695	604	638	667	680
Kenya	305	295	280	335	400	410	440	450	500	625	600	610	600	620	675	936	650
Mozambique	300	385	325	360	445	500	590	575	625	710	530	635	655	705	685	740	650
Nepal	70	23	47	64	351	340	520	530	530	560	705	620	980	1,260	825	445	600
Yemen	315	329	330	337	420	432	440	525	350	420	530	560	560	570	570	550	575
Burkina Faso	130	180	230	230	260	260	330	350	420	500	550	600	600	600	550	500	525
Afghanistan	370	265	166	249	233	200	100	250	340	359	286	212	382	325	519	534	510
Cameroon	250	300	300	310	450	550	525	500	500	600	400	600	500	600	600	470	500
Ethiopia	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	300	390	600	520	700	850	950	440	500
Sierra Leone	155	90	75	230	230	255	290	310	220	390	320	330	440	400	470	395	500
Benin	150	150	125	165	250	350	350	400	450	550	625	525	525	550	670	450	475
Venezuela	315	107	327	300	375	500	480	500	400	331	635	512	575	600	450	425	475
Haiti	320	300	337	389	372	416	387	447	431	564	428	470	546	440	412	527	460
South Korea	282	241	320	532	238	580	379	372	313	412	377	297	465	439	430	251	460
Canada	365	322	358	328	344	355	361	362	356	356	383	421	477	410	524	472	450
Madagascar	135	80	130	155	185	460	300	210	218	670	390	440	450	560	680	429	450
Somalia	100	155	120	210	150	160	220	290	350	420	370	450	510	500	610	480	450
Turkey	225	207	412	300	271	234	756	463	481	492	387	486	530	332	478	475	450
Cuba	558	457	498	558	330	413	377	575	546	429	499	457	501	416	456	345	445
Angola	260	195	280	275	360	430	500	450	470	450	490	450	500	500	720	325	400
Liberia	170	175	220	205	210	310	300	280	200	370	350	290	375	360	335	330	400
Mali	100	100	120	80	150	140	150	180	170	200	250	300	300	300	400	400	400
Singapore	274	246	264	275	247	293	323	288	319	323	287	321	395	381	369	433	375
Egypt	20	20	15	76	292	19	30	36	116	90	230	665	309	326	600	343	350
Tanzania	100	85	70	80	155	200	185	198	220	260	260	190	150	100	190	480	325
Togo	85	115	80	105	90	100	100	90	150	260	280	290	350	260	325	385	325
Congo (Kinshasa)	35	110	105	115	110	130	110	120	130	150	159	230	253	295	264	230	320
Hong Kong	399	397	390	381	415	419	372	332	330	334	326	317	313	289	290	270	310
Niger	170	180	260	245	275	280	300	250	250	300	350	360	380	400	300	300	300
Oman	350	78	132	179	190	329	280	300	230	220	255	230	250	200	257	297	285
Gambia	105	100	95	120	115	155	185	125	150	180	230	170	225	190	200	270	275
Kuwait	237	172	179	258	194	220	273	247	211	223	220	252	244	199	200	219	225
Australia	204	216	229	160	134	142	155	151	163	164	167	212	276	204	249	221	220
Algeria	95	90	90	85	145	153	135	105	157	154	151	128	140	136	178	225	200
Costa Rica	85	86	71	64	84	93	103	107	164	138	138	157	173	150	211	223	200
Russia	237	230	240	188	214	233	299	228	211	244	219	237	224	191	236	218	200
Chile	123	128	110	108	124	114	110	143	128	164	177	154	198	173	186	206	190
Jordan	135	177	136	140	220	190	200	195	205	220	190	220	230	210	225	180	190
Qatar	0	0	0	110	154	150	224	155	189	216	183	185	227	153	178	190	185
Colombia	30	111	8	150	330	250	325	284	293	112	149	194	237	31	187	113	180
Peru	135	81	97	215	263	176	201	258	296	370	277	273	307	205	121	142	160
Israel	68	78	75	95	100	91	109	105	116	115	120	126	176	159	137	146	150
Syria	230	250	315	250	250	169	192	214	205	165	218	208	182	247	157	122	150
Guatemala	76	65	60	59	71	55	64	74	102	94	103	101	139	101	148	108	140
Honduras	111	104	94	126	111	90	131	149	191	113	151	130	123	129	151	123	140
Kazakhstan	13	37	17	15	24	20	30	32	29	128	147	156	87	188	188	109	130
Panama	70	33	75	47	89	73	46	82	90	60	155	85	105	25	48	150	125
North Korea	30	62	89	108	61	50	70	43	58	129	170	202	50	150	75	164	110
Guinea-Bissau	80	75	110	130	130	130	120	120	130	140	130	120	150	120	50	120	100
Jamaica	85	80	80	90	88	83	82	89	82	88	84	82	57	79	100	100	100
Nicaragua	100	77	89	90	81	82	70	70	121	88	91	103	104	109	96	100	100
Switzerland	79	105	112	121	115	120	127	123	133	119	111	120	123	110	91	82	100
Taiwan	100	86	146	106	125	110	104	122	119	125	98	110	101	101	119	109	100
Thailand	8	300	300	200	600	500	300	300	300	250	250	250	250	200	50	50	100
El Salvador	77	85	68	80	74	65	71	65	73	66	76	63	99	78	73	84	80
Libya	165	150	225	215	310	300	300	250	200	200	175	190	70	100	30	80	80
Uzbekistan	9	16	1	12	5	0	4	49	2	0	17	28	20	51	68	85	80
Ukraine	70	81	74	58	52	68	84	83	63	80	95	81	116	82	86	76	75
Morocco	10	15	25	5	30	15	5	5	10	15	35	40	56	48	55	83	70
Laos	19	47	30	24	13	6	23	214	228	82	52	200	100	50	50	70	60
Mauritania	65	130	100	80	85	135	180	70	100	120	100	80	100	100	60	60	60
Mauritius	70	75	85	55	55	60	62	61	57	55	61	57	66	57	60	59	60
New Zealand	41	42	43	42	41	42	46	45	46	49	52	53	61	53	54	58	60
Cambodia	50	50	5	5	10	40	9	10	8	10	12	10	10	30	69	41	50
Ecuador	20	20	10	10	44	20	0	1	40	100	100	80	100	100	40	50	50
Sri Lanka	110	90	125	27	35	23	599	285	30	748	249	24	16	147	783	30	50
Uganda	60	80	75	95	135	115	100	80	40	100	50	60	80	50	50	50	50
Azerbaijan	8	12	10	12	22	105	75	99	97	37	45	35	39	31	26	20	30
Brunei	36	31	35	40	52	32	54	43	50	41	46	47	38	26	28	21	30
Belarus	8	3	3	14	26	30	31	29	27	30	29	27	30	27	29	25	25
Dominican Republic	20	26	36	18	8	12	17	14	20	42	20	24	38	27	23	38	25
Bolivia	51	26	12	22	11	46	97	53	40	36	30	8	14	6	8	2	5
Chad	14	15	20	10	30	30	5	5	5	10	15	10	5	5	5	5	5
Pakistan	0	0	18	38	65	45	22	30	10	8	9	7	7	7	5	7	5
Turkmenistan	0	4	34	33	47	33	43	45	27	20	3	5	1	1	9	1	5
Reunion	60	45	25	30	25	25	16	20	25	24	23	24	24	23	35	30	0
Trinidad and Tobago	30	42	26	27	32	27	35	39	23	23	30	30	30	30	30	30	0
Others	1,631	2,690	2,839	2,729	3,539	3,665	3,423	2,734	2,514	2,916	1,977	1,558	1,396	2,278	1,231	2,686	2,333

Global Rice Trade Grade-Wise

Global White Rice Broken Exports

Global Key Buyers of Broken Rice

Global Fragrant Brokens Exports

Global Rice Exporters

Global Rice Importers

Global Parboiled Rice Exporters

Global Parboiled Rice Importers

Global Rice Production

Global Rice Consumption

Global Rice Supply and Demand

Global Rice Ending Stocks

Global Rice Traders - Ranking