Global grain data shows an industry dominated by maize, wheat and rice, with major differences between production, trade-year flows and inventory measures. The figures below distinguish observed results from USDA estimates and forecasts and preserve each source’s geography, period and measurement basis.
Key Grain Industry Statistics
The most useful headline figures are:
- In 2023, global primary-crop production reached 9.9 billion tonnes worldwide, an FAO aggregate that is broader than cereals.
- From 2022 to 2023, world cereal production increased by 61 million tonnes.
- From 2022 to 2023, world cereal production rose 2%.
- In 2023, maize, wheat and rice accounted for 91% of world cereal production.
- In the 2020/21 wheat trade year, global wheat trade was 199.5 million metric tons.
- In the 2023/24 wheat trade year, global wheat trade reached 223.9 million metric tons.
- In 2024/25, world wheat production was estimated at 263.977 million metric tons.
- In 2024/25, China’s wheat production was estimated at 140.099 million metric tons.
- In 2024/25, world wheat trade was forecast at 203.3 million metric tons, 9% below 2023/24.
- In 2024/25, world rice production was estimated at 187.325 million metric tons on a milled basis.
- In 2025/26, world rice production was forecast at 187.828 million metric tons on a milled basis.
- On June 1, 2025, U.S. rough-rice stocks totaled 69.7 million hundredweight, 15% above a year earlier.
- In 2023/24, world corn production was 1,221.564 million metric tons.
- In 2025/26, world corn ending stocks were forecast at 279.2 million metric tons.
- On June 1, 2025, U.S. corn stocks totaled 4.64 billion bushels, 7% below a year earlier.
- In 2024/25, world barley production was estimated at 50.328 million metric tons.
- For 2025/26, U.S. winter wheat seeded area was estimated at 34.1 million acres, 2% above the prior year.
- On June 1, 2025, U.S. all-wheat stocks totaled 851 million bushels, 22% above a year earlier.
Contents
- Global grain production scale and leading crops
- World wheat production, trade and stocks
- Global rice production, consumption, trade and stocks
- Corn and coarse-grain output, trade and inventories
- Barley, sorghum, oats and rye data
- U.S. grain acreage, yields, stocks and outlook
Global Grain Industry Statistics: Production Scale and Leading Crops
The Food and Agriculture Organization reported 9.9 billion tonnes of global primary-crop production in 2023. This is not a cereals-only measure: FAO’s primary-crop aggregate includes a broader classification than the cereal total.
FAO also reported that world cereal production increased by 61 million tonnes, or 2%, from 2022 to 2023. Maize, wheat and rice together represented 91% of total cereal production in 2023, concentrating the sector’s output among three crops. FAO, Agricultural production statistics 2010–2023
| Global measure | Period | Reported result |
|---|---|---|
| Primary-crop production | 2023 | 9.9 billion tonnes |
| Cereal production change | 2022–2023 | +61 million tonnes |
| Cereal production change | 2022–2023 | +2% |
| Maize, wheat and rice share | 2023 | 91% of cereals |
Trade statistics use different marketing-year definitions. USDA’s April 2025 overview defines wheat’s trade year as July/June, corn’s as October/September and rice’s as January/December, so trade-year figures should not be read as calendar-year totals. USDA FAS, Grain: World Markets and Trade, April 2025
World Wheat Industry Statistics: Production, Trade and Stocks
USDA estimated world wheat production at 263.977 million metric tons in 2024/25. The same local-marketing-year table estimated production of 140.099 million metric tons in China, 122.123 million in the European Union, 113.292 million in India and 81.6 million in Russia.
| Geography | 2024/25 wheat production | Status and basis |
|---|---|---|
| World | 263.977 million metric tons | USDA estimate |
| China | 140.099 million metric tons | USDA local marketing-year estimate |
| European Union | 122.123 million metric tons | USDA local marketing-year estimate |
| India | 113.292 million metric tons | USDA local marketing-year estimate |
| Russia | 81.6 million metric tons | USDA local marketing-year estimate |
USDA also reported world wheat ending stocks of 263.977 million metric tons in 2024/25. Ending stocks are a supply-and-use measure across local marketing years, not physical inventory recorded at one shared global date. USDA FAS, Grain: World Markets and Trade, June 2025
Global wheat trade was 199.5 million metric tons in 2020/21 and reached 223.9 million metric tons in 2023/24. For 2024/25, USDA forecast 203.3 million metric tons, 9% below the prior year, in the April 2025 trade overview. USDA FAS, Grain: World Markets and Trade, April 2025
For the United States, the 2025/26 outlook projected 1,926 million bushels of wheat production, 2% below 2024/25, and an all-wheat yield of 50.1 bushels per acre, also 2% below the prior year. Beginning stocks were forecast at 794 million bushels, supplies at 2,830 million bushels and ending stocks at 826 million bushels; the projected stocks-to-use ratio was 41%.
These are USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum projections, not final outcomes. USDA, 2025 Agricultural Outlook Forum: Grains and Oilseeds Outlook
Global Rice Industry Statistics: Production, Trade and Stocks
USDA reported world rice production on a milled basis, which is not the same measurement basis as rough-rice stocks. Production was 179.826 million metric tons in 2023/24, an estimated 187.325 million in 2024/25 and a forecast 187.828 million in 2025/26.
| Rice measure | Period | World result |
|---|---|---|
| Production, milled basis | 2023/24 | 179.826 million metric tons |
| Production, milled basis | 2024/25 | 187.325 million metric tons, estimate |
| Production, milled basis | 2025/26 | 187.828 million metric tons, forecast |
| Trade year | 2023/24 | 59.904 million metric tons, observed |
| Trade year | 2024/25 | 61.064 million metric tons, forecast |
| Trade year | 2025/26 | 61.655 million metric tons, forecast |
The USDA table reports rice trade in thousand-metric-ton units; the figures above retain the supplied million-metric-ton presentation while preserving the table’s trade-year distinction. North American rice imports were forecast at 3.035 million metric tons in 2025/26. USDA FAS, Grain: World Markets and Trade, June 2025
U.S. rice production was 1.265 million metric tons in 2023/24, an estimated 1.444 million in 2024/25 and a forecast 1.479 million in 2025/26, all on a milled basis. Separately, NASS reported that U.S. rough-rice stocks on June 1, 2025 totaled 69.7 million hundredweight, up 15% year over year; on-farm stocks rose 94% and off-farm stocks rose 7%.
Long-grain rice represented 69% of U.S. rough-rice stocks on June 1, 2025, while medium-grain rice represented 30%. Milled-rice stocks totaled 6.09 million hundredweight, up 26% year over year; whole-kernel rice accounted for 4.01 million hundredweight, and second heads, screenings and brewers rice accounted for 2.08 million.
These are separate rough-rice and milled-rice measures. USDA NASS, Grain Stocks and Rice Stocks, June 1, 2025
Corn and Coarse-Grain Industry Statistics: Output, Trade and Inventories
World coarse-grain production was 346.915 million metric tons in 2023/24 and was estimated at 313.895 million in 2024/25. Coarse-grain trade was 198.188 million metric tons in 2023/24 and forecast at 188.104 million in 2024/25; USDA’s tables use differing units and trade-year labels that should remain attached to these aggregates.
World corn production was 1,221.564 million metric tons in 2023/24 and forecast at 1,218.968 million metric tons in 2024/25. The source corn table reports thousand metric tons, while the supplied figures are expressed in million metric tons.
USDA forecast world corn ending stocks of 279.2 million metric tons in 2025/26. Global corn trade was forecast 5% below 2023/24 in 2024/25, while China’s corn imports were forecast 65% lower and its sorghum imports 46% lower year over year, with the USDA attribution pointing to weaker demand. USDA FAS, Grain: World Markets and Trade, June 2025 USDA FAS, Grain: World Markets and Trade, April 2025
NASS reported 4.64 billion bushels of U.S. corn stocks on June 1, 2025, down 7% from June 1, 2024. This is a U.S. inventory estimate for that specific date, rather than a global ending-stocks figure. USDA NASS, Grain Stocks and Rice Stocks, June 1, 2025
Barley, Sorghum, Oats and Rye Industry Data
The smaller grain categories have distinct production and trade scales. USDA estimated world barley production at 50.328 million metric tons in 2024/25, while observed world barley trade was 21.46 million metric tons in 2023/24.
| Crop | Period | World statistic |
|---|---|---|
| Barley production | 2024/25 | 50.328 million metric tons, estimate |
| Barley trade | 2023/24 | 21.46 million metric tons, observed |
| Sorghum production | 2023/24 | 4.737 million metric tons, observed |
| Oats production | 2023/24 | 2.374 million metric tons, observed |
| Oats trade | 2025/26 | 2.697 million metric tons, forecast |
| Rye trade | 2023/24 | 0.546 million metric tons, observed |
The sorghum, oats and rye values are converted from the source table’s thousand-metric-ton presentations into the supplied million-metric-ton figures. Oats trade is a 2025/26 forecast, whereas rye trade is an observed 2023/24 figure, so they are not equivalent-year outcomes. USDA FAS, Grain: World Markets and Trade, June 2025
U.S. Grain Industry Statistics: Acreage, Yields, Stocks and Outlook
USDA estimated 34.1 million acres of U.S. winter wheat seeded area for 2025/26, up 2% from the prior year. The same outlook projected 2025/26 all-wheat production at 1,926 million bushels and yield at 50.1 bushels per acre, both 2% below the preceding year’s comparison basis. USDA, 2025 Agricultural Outlook Forum: Grains and Oilseeds Outlook
NASS measured U.S. all-wheat stocks at 851 million bushels on June 1, 2025, up 22% year over year. On-farm all-wheat stocks were up 32%, and off-farm stocks were up 20%.
Durum wheat stocks totaled 27.9 million bushels on June 1, 2025, up 32% from a year earlier. On-farm durum stocks rose 41% and off-farm durum stocks rose 25%, showing why the storage location matters when interpreting a national total. USDA NASS, Grain Stocks and Rice Stocks, June 1, 2025
These U.S. stock figures are June 1 inventory estimates separated into on-farm and off-farm positions. The USDA outlook figures are projections from the stated release vintage, while the NASS figures are observed estimates for the specified date; neither category should be treated as a single universal measure of grain availability.