Major rice importing countries worldwide 2023/24

In the 2022/2023 marketing year, rice imports to the Philippines amounted to about 3.8 million metric tons, making it the leading country for rice imports worldwide. China imported about 2.8 million metric tons of rice that same year. Total production of milled rice worldwide amounted to almost 513.5 million metric tons in 2023/24.

Global grain production

Rice is one of the most produced grains in the world, surpassed only by corn and wheat. The worldwide production of corn in 2023/24 is expected to be more than double the production of milled rice, exceeding 1.23 billion metric tons. Though not at the volume of corn, the production of milled rice has generally been increasing each year, reaching a peak of about 513 million metric tons in 2022/23. This is an increase of almost 15 percent compared to 2008/09.

Rice

Although rice is characterized as a single type of grain, there are actually over 40,000 varieties of rice, classified based on several characteristics such as size, starch content, and milling. Rice is found in many different cultures and cuisines, but China is the clear leader in consumption, followed by India and Bangladesh. Global rice consumption has grown and reached a peak of over 520.4 million metric tons in 2022/23.