2026-10-26 · percent of global rice consumption

Asia eats most of the world's rice

Half of humanity depends on rice — production mirrors consumption.

Rice anchors daily diets for half of humanity — and Asia does most of the eating. The region accounts for 90% of global rice consumption, leaving Africa, the Americas and other regions a combined tenth. Because production closely mirrors consumption, the world's rice economy is, in effect, an Asian one.

1 cell = 0.1 percent of global rice consumption (0.1% of rice consumption) · 1,000 cells

Context

The regional shares come from FAO's rice market monitoring. The Markets and Trade Division tracks consumption, trade, stocks and prices through the quarterly Rice Market Monitor, the monthly Rice Price Update and the Cereal Supply and Demand Brief.

The backdrop matters for food security: FAO's June 2026 Food Outlook expects global cereal production to ease from record highs yet remain at historically elevated levels, despite spillovers from energy and fertilizer markets into agriculture.

FAO's Intergovernmental Group on Rice regularly appraises the global rice market situation and short-term outlook, while the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2025–2034 assesses prospects for commodity markets over the coming decade.

FAO rice consumption regional shares.