SEOUL, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) — South Korea’s rice output fell this year due to lower cultivated area, statistical office data showed Tuesday.

Rice production totaled 3,702,000 tons in 2023, down 1.6 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.

Rice output kept sliding for the second straight year after growing 10.7 percent in 2021. Rice production continued to decrease for five successive years from 2016 to 2020.

This year’s reduction was attributable to the lower cultivated area that offset good weather conditions.

The size of rice paddies across the country shrank 2.6 percent over the year to 708,012 hectares in 2023, marking the lowest since relevant data began to be compiled in 1975.

Rice production per 10 acres added 1.0 percent to 523 kg this year.

The country’s rice consumption has roughly been on the decline for the past decades due to the change in eating habits. 

Published Date: November 14, 2023