Corn production in South Africa

South Africa: Corn production was 12.85 million tonnes in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
12.85 million tonnes
Change on year
down 21.8%
World rank
12th
of 175 countries
All-time high
17.55 million tonnes
in 2017
All-time low
3.28 million tonnes
in 1992
Years of data
64
1961–2024

Corn production in South Africa, 1961–2024

5.0M10.0M15.0M20.0M196119922024

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in tonnes.

Analysis

South Africa recorded 12.85 million tonnes for corn production in 2024.

The figure is down 21.8% on the previous year and down 9.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, corn production in South Africa peaked at 17.55 million tonnes in 2017 and was at its lowest, 3.28 million tonnes, in 1992.

South Africa ranks 12th of 175 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 5.78 million tonnes 4.31 million tonnes 9.80 million tonnes 9
1970s 8.48 million tonnes 4.20 million tonnes 11.08 million tonnes 10
1980s 8.90 million tonnes 4.40 million tonnes 14.87 million tonnes 10
1990s 8.52 million tonnes 3.28 million tonnes 13.28 million tonnes 10
2000s 9.92 million tonnes 6.94 million tonnes 12.70 million tonnes 10
2010s 12.27 million tonnes 8.21 million tonnes 17.55 million tonnes 10
2020s 15.38 million tonnes 12.85 million tonnes 16.43 million tonnes 5

Countries ranked near South Africa

  1. 9 Indonesia 15.14 million tonnes compare
  2. 10 France 14.67 million tonnes compare
  3. 11 Russia 13.95 million tonnes compare
  4. 13 Ethiopia 11.70 million tonnes compare
  5. 14 Nigeria 11.16 million tonnes compare
  6. 15 Tanzania 10.08 million tonnes compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More reference data data for South Africa

All data for South Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is corn production in South Africa?
Corn production in South Africa was 12.85 million tonnes in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest corn production recorded in South Africa?
The highest recorded value was 17.55 million tonnes in 2017.
What is the lowest corn production recorded in South Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 3.28 million tonnes in 1992.
How does South Africa rank for corn production?
South Africa ranks 12th out of 175 countries with data for 2024.
Is corn production rising or falling in South Africa?
Over the last ten years it is down 9.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this South Africa data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Corn production. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 64 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Corn production
Unit
tonnes
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
176 places, 9,538 data points, 1961–2024
Last refreshed

Corn (maize) production is measured in tonnes.