Rice production in Nepal
Nepal: Rice production was 5.96 million tonnes in 2024. ▲ Rising
Latest (2024)
5.96 million tonnes
Change on year
up 4.0%
World rank
16th
of 143 countries
All-time high
5.96 million tonnes
in 2024
All-time low
1.83 million tonnes
in 1982
Years of data
64
1961–2024
Rice production in Nepal, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in tonnes.
Analysis
Nepal recorded 5.96 million tonnes for rice production in 2024. That is the highest value across all 64 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.0% on the previous year and up 24.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rice production in Nepal peaked at 5.96 million tonnes in 2024 and was at its lowest, 1.83 million tonnes, in 1982.
That places Nepal 16th out of 143 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Rice production in Nepal, year by year
| Year | tonnes | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 2.11 million tonnes | — |
| 1962 | 2.11 million tonnes | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 2.11 million tonnes | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 2.20 million tonnes | +4.4% |
| 1965 | 2.21 million tonnes | +0.3% |
| 1966 | 2.01 million tonnes | -9.0% |
| 1967 | 2.12 million tonnes | +5.6% |
| 1968 | 2.18 million tonnes | +2.8% |
| 1969 | 2.24 million tonnes | +2.9% |
| 1970 | 2.30 million tonnes | +2.8% |
| 1971 | 2.34 million tonnes | +1.7% |
| 1972 | 2.01 million tonnes | -14.2% |
| 1973 | 2.42 million tonnes | +20.2% |
| 1974 | 2.45 million tonnes | +1.5% |
| 1975 | 2.60 million tonnes | +6.2% |
| 1976 | 2.39 million tonnes | -8.4% |
| 1977 | 2.28 million tonnes | -4.4% |
| 1978 | 2.34 million tonnes | +2.5% |
| 1979 | 2.06 million tonnes | -11.9% |
| 1980 | 2.46 million tonnes | +19.6% |
| 1981 | 2.56 million tonnes | +3.9% |
| 1982 | 1.83 million tonnes | -28.4% |
| 1983 | 2.76 million tonnes | +50.4% |
| 1984 | 2.71 million tonnes | -1.7% |
| 1985 | 2.80 million tonnes | +3.5% |
| 1986 | 2.37 million tonnes | -15.4% |
| 1987 | 2.98 million tonnes | +25.7% |
| 1988 | 3.28 million tonnes | +10.1% |
| 1989 | 3.39 million tonnes | +3.2% |
| 1990 | 3.50 million tonnes | +3.3% |
| 1991 | 2.58 million tonnes | -26.2% |
| 1992 | 3.50 million tonnes | +35.2% |
| 1993 | 2.91 million tonnes | -16.9% |
| 1994 | 3.58 million tonnes | +23.1% |
| 1995 | 3.71 million tonnes | +3.7% |
| 1996 | 3.64 million tonnes | -1.9% |
| 1997 | 3.70 million tonnes | +1.6% |
| 1998 | 3.83 million tonnes | +3.6% |
| 1999 | 4.22 million tonnes | +10.0% |
| 2000 | 4.16 million tonnes | -1.2% |
| 2001 | 4.13 million tonnes | -0.8% |
| 2002 | 4.13 million tonnes | -0.0% |
| 2003 | 4.46 million tonnes | +7.8% |
| 2004 | 4.29 million tonnes | -3.7% |
| 2005 | 4.21 million tonnes | -1.9% |
| 2006 | 3.68 million tonnes | -12.6% |
| 2007 | 4.30 million tonnes | +16.8% |
| 2008 | 4.52 million tonnes | +5.2% |
| 2009 | 4.02 million tonnes | -11.1% |
| 2010 | 4.46 million tonnes | +10.8% |
| 2011 | 5.07 million tonnes | +13.7% |
| 2012 | 4.50 million tonnes | -11.2% |
| 2013 | 5.05 million tonnes | +12.0% |
| 2014 | 4.79 million tonnes | -5.1% |
| 2015 | 4.30 million tonnes | -10.2% |
| 2016 | 5.23 million tonnes | +21.7% |
| 2017 | 5.15 million tonnes | -1.5% |
| 2018 | 5.61 million tonnes | +8.9% |
| 2019 | 5.55 million tonnes | -1.1% |
| 2020 | 5.62 million tonnes | +1.3% |
| 2021 | 5.13 million tonnes | -8.7% |
| 2022 | 5.49 million tonnes | +6.9% |
| 2023 | 5.72 million tonnes | +4.3% |
| 2024 | 5.96 million tonnes | +4.0% |
Nepal compared with similar countries
- Nepal's 5.96 million tonnes is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 407,632 tonnes, 14.6× the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Nepal's 5.96 million tonnes is above the median for South Asia, which is 5.96 million tonnes, 1.0× the median. (5 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Rice production in Nepal changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | +50.4% | 1.83 million tonnes | 2.76 million tonnes |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 2.14 million tonnes | 2.01 million tonnes | 2.24 million tonnes | 9 |
| 1970s | 2.32 million tonnes | 2.01 million tonnes | 2.60 million tonnes | 10 |
| 1980s | 2.72 million tonnes | 1.83 million tonnes | 3.39 million tonnes | 10 |
| 1990s | 3.52 million tonnes | 2.58 million tonnes | 4.22 million tonnes | 10 |
| 2000s | 4.19 million tonnes | 3.68 million tonnes | 4.52 million tonnes | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.97 million tonnes | 4.30 million tonnes | 5.61 million tonnes | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.58 million tonnes | 5.13 million tonnes | 5.96 million tonnes | 5 |
Countries ranked near Nepal
- 13 United States 10.08 million tonnes compare
- 14 Nigeria 9.13 million tonnes compare
- 15 Egypt 6.43 million tonnes compare
- 17 Madagascar 4.97 million tonnes compare
- 18 South Korea 4.78 million tonnes compare
- 19 Sri Lanka 4.70 million tonnes compare
More reference data data for Nepal
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.7753 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 2.5 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 4.14 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.7853 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 4.14 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 2.6 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.7974 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 11.28 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 19.44 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 4.28 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rice production in Nepal?
- Rice production in Nepal was 5.96 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 rice production recorded in Nepal?
- The highest recorded value was 5.96 million tonnes in 2024.
- What is the lowest rice production recorded in Nepal?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.83 million tonnes in 1982.
- How does Nepal rank for rice production?
- Nepal ranks 16th out of 143 countries with data for 2024.
- Is rice production rising or falling in Nepal?
- Over the last ten years it is up 24.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Nepal 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 Rice 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
Rice production is measured in tonnes.