Sugar cane led world crop output with 1,939.78 million tonnes in 2024, ahead of maize and rice, according to FAOSTAT.
Sugar cane is the world's most produced crop by weight, with 1,939.78 million tonnes harvested in 2024. Maize (corn) is second at 1,218.21 million tonnes and Rice third at 820.22 million tonnes. The ranking uses FAOSTAT world production of individual primary crop items for 2024, in tonnes.
Four crops - sugar cane, maize, rice and wheat - each topped 790 million tonnes in 2024, and together they account for 4.78 billion tonnes of harvest. Rice (820.22 million tonnes) finished ahead of wheat (798.48 million tonnes), and oil palm fruit ranks fifth at 418.70 million tonnes. This list uses one dataset and one year: the Food and Agriculture Organization's FAOSTAT production figures for 2024, the latest year with complete world totals. It ranks crops by raw harvested weight, which says nothing about calories, value or land used.
Sugar cane: 1,939.78 million tonnes worldwide in 2024, down 3.8% on 2023 (2,017.38 million tonnes). Brazil was the largest producer with 759.66 million tonnes, 39.2% of the world total, followed by India with 453.16 million tonnes.
Maize (corn): 1,218.21 million tonnes worldwide in 2024, down 1.6% on 2023 (1,238.58 million tonnes). The United States was the largest producer with 377.63 million tonnes, 31.0% of the world total, followed by China (mainland) with 294.92 million tonnes.
Rice: 820.22 million tonnes worldwide in 2024, up 1.9% on 2023 (804.74 million tonnes). India was the largest producer with 217.87 million tonnes, 26.6% of the world total, followed by China (mainland) with 207.53 million tonnes. That put rice ahead of wheat (798.48 million tonnes) in 2024.
Wheat: 798.48 million tonnes worldwide in 2024, up 0.5% on 2023 (794.57 million tonnes). China (mainland) was the largest producer with 140.10 million tonnes, 17.5% of the world total, followed by India with 113.29 million tonnes.
Oil palm fruit: 418.70 million tonnes worldwide in 2024, up 2.1% on 2023 (409.92 million tonnes). Indonesia was the largest producer with 243.00 million tonnes (an FAO estimate), 58.0% of the world total, followed by Malaysia with 100.16 million tonnes. FAO flags the world total as an estimate.
Soya beans: 397.67 million tonnes worldwide in 2024, up 7.2% on 2023 (370.88 million tonnes). Brazil was the largest producer with 144.47 million tonnes, 36.3% of the world total, followed by the United States with 118.84 million tonnes.
Potatoes: 390.43 million tonnes worldwide in 2024, up 1.0% on 2023 (386.75 million tonnes). China (mainland) was the largest producer with 94.81 million tonnes (a value FAO imputed), 24.3% of the world total, followed by India with 57.05 million tonnes.
Cassava, fresh: 341.91 million tonnes worldwide in 2024, up 0.7% on 2023 (339.52 million tonnes). Nigeria was the largest producer with 62.62 million tonnes (an FAO estimate), 18.3% of the world total, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo with 46.56 million tonnes.
Sugar beet: 293.62 million tonnes worldwide in 2024, up 3.7% on 2023 (283.11 million tonnes). Russia was the largest producer with 46.68 million tonnes (a value FAO imputed), 15.9% of the world total, followed by Germany with 36.68 million tonnes.
Tomatoes: 188.50 million tonnes worldwide in 2024, up 1.6% on 2023 (185.48 million tonnes). China (mainland) was the largest producer with 61.61 million tonnes (an FAO estimate), 32.7% of the world total, followed by India with 21.32 million tonnes.
| # | Name | Top producer (2024) | Top producer's share (our calc.) | Change vs 2023 (our calc.) | FAO flag on world figure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sugar cane | Brazil (759.66 Mt) | 39.2% | -3.8% | A (official figure) |
| 2 | Maize (corn) | United States (377.63 Mt) | 31.0% | -1.6% | A (official figure) |
| 3 | Rice | India (217.87 Mt) | 26.6% | +1.9% | A (official figure) |
| 4 | Wheat | China (mainland) (140.10 Mt) | 17.5% | +0.5% | A (official figure) |
| 5 | Oil palm fruit | Indonesia (243.00 Mt) | 58.0% | +2.1% | E (estimated value) |
| 6 | Soya beans | Brazil (144.47 Mt) | 36.3% | +7.2% | A (official figure) |
| 7 | Potatoes | China (mainland) (94.81 Mt) | 24.3% | +1.0% | E (estimated value) |
| 8 | Cassava, fresh | Nigeria (62.62 Mt) | 18.3% | +0.7% | E (estimated value) |
| 9 | Sugar beet | Russia (46.68 Mt) | 15.9% | +3.7% | A (official figure) |
| 10 | Tomatoes | China (mainland) (61.61 Mt) | 32.7% | +1.6% | E (estimated value) |
Crops are ranked by world production in 2024 (FAOSTAT domain QCL, 'Production: Crops and livestock products', element Production, unit tonnes, area 'World'), taken from FAO's bulk download file released in December 2025. 2024 is the latest year for which FAOSTAT publishes world production for every primary crop item. We ranked FAO's own primary crop items (the items whose CPC code starts with 01) as FAO publishes them, without combining items, and excluded FAO's aggregate items such as 'Cereals, primary', 'Sugar Crops Primary', 'Vegetables Primary' and 'Fruit Primary'. We also excluded FAO's residual 'n.e.c.' (not elsewhere classified) items, which pool many different crops: 'Other vegetables, fresh n.e.c.' (281.49 million tonnes) would otherwise sit at #10. Item names are FAO's. Values are shown in million tonnes rounded to two decimals; ranks use the unrounded tonnes, and no two items tie. FAO flags the world figures for Oil palm fruit, Potatoes, Cassava, fresh and Tomatoes as estimated values (flag E); the others carry flag A. 'Top producer' uses FAOSTAT's country rows (its combined 'China' row is skipped in favour of 'China, mainland' so nothing is counted twice); top-producer shares and changes against 2023 are our calculations from the same file.
Sugar cane, with 1,939.78 million tonnes in 2024 according to FAOSTAT, down 3.8% on 2023. Brazil and India grew most of it.
In FAOSTAT's 2024 data, rice (820.22 million tonnes) is slightly ahead of wheat (798.48 million tonnes). It was also ahead in 2023 (804.74 vs 794.57 million tonnes).
Not necessarily. This list ranks by weight in tonnes only. It does not measure calories, nutritional value, economic value or the land a crop uses.
FAO's 'Other vegetables, fresh n.e.c.' item (281.49 million tonnes in 2024) is a catch-all for many vegetables that FAO does not report separately, not a single crop, so we left it out. All FAO aggregate items are excluded for the same reason.
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