Top Rice Producing Countries

Rice is a staple food for more than half of the world’s population, and its cultivation has shaped civilizations for thousands of years. The earliest evidence of rice farming dates back over 9,000 years in the Yangtze River basin of China, where domesticated Oryza sativa was first grown. From China, rice agriculture spread to Southeast Asia, India, and eventually to the Middle East and Mediterranean through ancient trade routes. In the modern era, the top rice-producing countries are China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Vietnam, which together account for the majority of global rice output. These countries benefit from favorable climates, fertile river valleys, and centuries-old traditions of paddy cultivation, making them central to both the history and future of rice farming worldwide.

Data from United Nations FAO Stat