Paddy rice production worldwide 2021, by country

Monitoring the rice market is a critical task considering more than half of the world’s population consume rice on a daily basis. South and East Asia are the two main regions for paddy rice production in the world. China and India are considered as the main producers of paddy rice worldwide. In 2021, China’s paddy rice production amounted to over 212.8 million metric tons, while India's production volume exceeded 195 million metric tons.

Paddy rice production

Paddy or rough rice are the unprocessed rice kernels grown in a flooded or well irrigated field. Paddies require a maintained level of water, around 10 to 15 centimeters, for the growth part and the fields are then dried before harvesting in the sunny season. In the Asia Pacific region, China and India were the leading rice paddy producers, with a significant gap to Indonesia in third place.

Global rice market

Global rice consumption has been increasing in accordance with population growth. China and India being the main consumers of rice. As of February 2019, China and the Philippines were the main importing countries of rice, while India and Thailand were the main exporters.