Annual rice consumption in Malaysia 2019-2024

Rice is an important staple food in Malaysia. As of 2024, people in the country consumed approximately three million metric tons of rice. This was a slight increase compared to the total consumption in the previous year. Overall, rice consumption in Malaysia has been increasing.

Rice imports to supply domestic demands

Despite the significance of rice in the everyday lives of Malaysians, the production volume of rice in Malaysia has been decreasing in the past few years and it is not enough to meet the local demands. In 2023, the Southeast Asian country produced around 1.44 million metric tons of rice, less than half of the annual consumption in the same year. As a result, the value of import of rice increased to more than three billion Malaysian ringgit from 2022 to 2023.

Decrease in planted area

One of the reasons for decreased rice production volume could be attributed to the loss of planted areas of paddy in Malaysia. From approximately 700,000 hectares in 2018, the panted area went down to around 638,000 hectares in 2022. With a steady increase in rice demands, Malaysia would have to increase its rice production or import more from other rice-producing countries.