This year, rice production has decreased by just over 30,000 tons compared to last year. Favorable weather conditions for rice growth led to a slight increase in yield per unit area, but a reduction in the cultivation area due to government measures to stabilize rice production has lowered overall output.
According to the National Data Agency's rice production survey released on November 13, 2026, this year's rice production is 3.508 million tons, down 30,000 tons (0.9%) from last year's 3.539 million tons.
Rice production has now declined for five consecutive years, from 3.882 million tons in 2021 to 3.764 million tons in 2022, 3.702 million tons in 2023, 3.585 million tons in 2024, and 3.539 million tons in 2025.
This year, the area cultivated for rice is 670,470 hectares, a 1.1% decrease from last year's 677,514 hectares. This reduction is attributed to government initiatives such as the strategic crop payment system and the rice-to-other crop conversion project aimed at stabilizing rice production.
Conversely, the yield per unit area has increased. The rice yield per 10 ares (1,000 square meters) is 524 kilograms, up 0.2% from last year's 522 kilograms. This improvement is due to better overall weather conditions for rice growth, which reduced damage from pests and flooding.
In fact, among the sampled areas, the proportion of those expected to see a production decrease of over 10% due to pests fell from 10.0% last year to 8.5% this year, a drop of 1.5 percentage points. Similarly, the rate of damage from flooding and excessive moisture decreased from 1.4% to 0.2%, a decline of 1.2 percentage points.
Regionally, the highest rice production was recorded in Gwangju, Jeonnam, at 736,000 tons, followed by Chungnam at 681,000 tons, Jeonbuk at 526,000 tons, Gyeongbuk at 475,000 tons, Gyeonggi at 363,000 tons, and Gyeongnam at 309,000 tons.
Comparing production levels to the previous year, Jeonnam saw an increase of 4.0%, Gyeongnam increased by 1.1%, and Gyeongbuk rose by 0.1%. In contrast, Jeonbuk decreased by 3.2%, Chungnam and Gyeonggi both fell by 1.8%, Chungbuk dropped by 5.1%, and Gangwon saw a decline of 6.1%.
This survey combines the production of both paddy and upland rice, calculated based on a standard ratio of 92.9%. When applying an adjusted ratio of 90.4%, this year's rice production is estimated at 3.414 million tons, also a 0.9% decrease from last year.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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