South Sudan: Cereal production (metric tons)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, South Sudan's cereal production (metric tons) rose 10.5% on 2023 (from 1.09 million to 1.2 million).

Across the 11 yearly changes before that (2013 to 2023), the average change was +3.8% and a typical year strayed about 18.4% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 41.5% in 2014 and the biggest yearly fall was 27.5% in 2015. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is upward, about 37,395 a year. A straight line explains 55% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2024, South Sudan had the 102nd highest value of the 177 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to South Sudan in the 2024 ranking

• Zimbabwe — 99th of 177: 1.34 million
• Estonia — 100th of 177: 1.3 million
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 101st of 177: 1.2 million
• Norway — 103rd of 177: 1.18 million
• Saudi Arabia — 104th of 177: 1.17 million
• Guyana — 105th of 177: 1.12 million

What this measures

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.

Limitations: Data on cereal production may be affected by a variety of reporting and timing differences. Millet and sorghum, which are grown as feed for livestock and poultry in Europe and North America, are used as food in Africa, Asia, and countries of the former Soviet Union. So some cereal crops are excluded from the data for some countries and included elsewhere, depending on their use. The data are collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations through annual questionnaires and are supplemented with information from official secondary data sources.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.

All 13 values

Cereal production (metric tons) in nearby economies

• Angola — 3.5 million (2024)
• Benin — 2.91 million (2024)
• Botswana — 54,554 (2024)
• Burkina Faso — 5.21 million (2024)
• Burundi — 789,542 (2024)
• Cabo Verde — 5 (2024)
• Cameroon — 3.85 million (2024)
• Central African Republic — 282,868 (2024)
• Chad — 2.71 million (2024)
• Comoros — 20,110 (2024)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 4.39 million (2024)

More environment data for South Sudan

• Population in largest city — 500,088 (2025)
• Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 18.92% (2025)
• Rural population — 9.55 million (2025)
• Rural population (% of total population) — 78.32% (2025)
• Urban population — 2.64 million (2025)
• Urban population (% of total population) — 21.68% (2025)
• Rural population growth (annual %) — 1.64% (2025)
• Urban population growth (annual %) — 3.46% (2025)
• Electric power consumption (kWh per capita) — 53.17 (2024)
• PM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure (micrograms per cubic meter)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is South Sudan's cereal production (metric tons)?

1.2 million in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2012?

It is up 42.52% from 842,000 in 2012 (3% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 1.27 million in 2014 and the lowest 745,005 in 2018.

How does South Sudan rank?

102nd highest of 177 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in cereal production (metric tons) unusual for South Sudan?

In 2024, South Sudan's cereal production (metric tons) rose 10.5% on 2023 (from 1.09 million to 1.2 million). Across the 11 yearly changes before that (2013 to 2023), the average change was +3.8% and a typical year strayed about 18.4% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator AG.PRD.CREL.MT, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: FAO electronic files and web site, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), uri: https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL, publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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