Wheat production in South Africa

South Africa: Wheat production was 1.92 million tonnes in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
1.92 million tonnes
Change on year
down 6.1%
World rank
40th
of 125 countries
All-time high
3.62 million tonnes
in 1988
All-time low
548,000 tonnes
in 1966
Years of data
64
1961–2024

Wheat production in South Africa, 1961–2024

1.0M2.0M3.0M4.0M196119922024

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for wheat production in South Africa is 1.92 million tonnes, measured in 2024.

The figure is down 6.1% on the previous year and up 10.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, wheat production in South Africa peaked at 3.62 million tonnes in 1988 and was at its lowest, 548,000 tonnes, in 1966.

That places South Africa 40th out of 125 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 928,889 tonnes 548,000 tonnes 1.32 million tonnes 9
1970s 1.80 million tonnes 1.40 million tonnes 2.25 million tonnes 10
1980s 2.32 million tonnes 1.47 million tonnes 3.62 million tonnes 10
1990s 1.97 million tonnes 1.32 million tonnes 2.71 million tonnes 10
2000s 2.06 million tonnes 1.55 million tonnes 2.50 million tonnes 10
2010s 1.73 million tonnes 1.43 million tonnes 2.00 million tonnes 10
2020s 2.10 million tonnes 1.92 million tonnes 2.29 million tonnes 5

Countries ranked near South Africa

  1. 37 Morocco 2.44 million tonnes compare
  2. 38 Syria 2.43 million tonnes compare
  3. 39 Nepal 2.04 million tonnes compare
  4. 41 Slovakia 1.91 million tonnes compare
  5. 42 Azerbaijan 1.90 million tonnes compare
  6. 43 Austria 1.58 million tonnes compare

See the full ranking of 126 places →

More reference data data for South Africa

All data for South Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is wheat production in South Africa?
Wheat production in South Africa was 1.92 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 wheat production recorded in South Africa?
The highest recorded value was 3.62 million tonnes in 1988.
What is the lowest wheat production recorded in South Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 548,000 tonnes in 1966.
How does South Africa rank for wheat production?
South Africa ranks 40th out of 125 countries with data for 2024.
Is wheat production rising or falling in South Africa?
Over the last ten years it is up 10.0%. 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 Wheat 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
Wheat 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
126 places, 7,044 data points, 1961–2024
Last refreshed

Wheat production is measured in tonnes.