Cereal yield in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa: Cereal yield was 1,453 kg per hectare in 2024. ▲ Rising
Cereal yield in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1961–2024
Source: FAO electronic files and web site, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in kg per hectare.
Analysis
The most recent figure for cereal yield in Sub-Saharan Africa is 1,453 kg per hectare, measured in 2024.
That represents a change of down 7.3% on the previous year and up 0.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cereal yield in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 1,595 kg per hectare in 2022 and was at its lowest, 767.41 kg per hectare, in 1965.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 810.45 kg per hectare | 767.41 kg per hectare | 919.27 kg per hectare | 9 |
| 1970s | 948.63 kg per hectare | 799.71 kg per hectare | 1,032 kg per hectare | 10 |
| 1980s | 1,063 kg per hectare | 923.45 kg per hectare | 1,240 kg per hectare | 10 |
| 1990s | 1,048 kg per hectare | 905.97 kg per hectare | 1,129 kg per hectare | 10 |
| 2000s | 1,190 kg per hectare | 1,111 kg per hectare | 1,312 kg per hectare | 10 |
| 2010s | 1,414 kg per hectare | 1,271 kg per hectare | 1,511 kg per hectare | 10 |
| 2020s | 1,557 kg per hectare | 1,453 kg per hectare | 1,595 kg per hectare | 5 |
More agriculture & rural data for Sub-Saharan Africa
- Agricultural raw materials exports 2.6% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.0% (2024)
- Rural population 55.3% (2025)
- Rural population growth 1.5% (2025)
- Rural population 731.42 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 17.9% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 395.96 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 85.37 million hectares (2024)
- Cereal production 124.08 million metric tons (2024)
- Fertilizer consumption 19.59 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cereal yield in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Cereal yield in Sub-Saharan Africa was 1,453 kg per hectare in 2024, according to FAO electronic files and web site, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
- What is the highest cereal yield recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 1,595 kg per hectare in 2022.
- What is the lowest cereal yield recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 767.41 kg per hectare in 1965.
- Is cereal yield rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa data come from?
- The figures come from FAO electronic files and web site, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), published as part of Cereal yield (kg per hectare). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 64 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Cereal yield, measured as kilograms per hectare of harvested land, includes wheat, rice, maize, barley, oats, rye, millet, sorghum, buckwheat, and mixed grains. Production data on cereals relate to crops harvested for dry grain only. Cereal crops harvested for hay or harvested green for food, feed, or silage and those used for grazing are excluded. The FAO allocates production data to the calendar year in which the bulk of the harvest took place. Most of a crop harvested near the end of a year will be used in the following year.