12 Countries with Highest Rice Consumption Per Capita

Let’s talk today about the world rice consumption, or as we have put it, 12 countries with highest rice consumption per capita. You probably love risotto and sushi, but which nation absolutely loves this cereal? If your guesses include Asia, you’re on a good way of guessing right. However, this list wouldn’t be interesting enough if the answer was that obvious. An African country comes into play, too.

Rice is exquisite food. Its taste is usually neutral, and it makes it an excellent side dish. You can add different spices to create incredible sensations for your palate. Also, rice health benefits and advantages are always mentioned at food blogs. Usually, brown rice gets more praise, but the white type is very good, too. This food gives you energy while being low in calories. In addition, it aids skin care and digestion. Needless to say, your immune system loves it. But let’s talk figures.

If you wish to know something about the world rice consumption in 2017, check our article about the countries that consume the most rice. Can you guess which countries produce more rice than they actually need? Read about 10 countries that export the most rice in the world and find out. Now that we’re discussing the side dish, it’s worth mentioning that people often wonder about the meat that is served with rice, i.e., which country consumes the most meat. If it’s beef and veal we’re talking about, that would be Uruguay, while Israel cooks prefer poultry. As for the desserts, can you make a wild guess which country consumes the most chocolate in the world? Indeed, the Swiss simply can’t resist their Nestle and Lindt products.

It’s time to go back to rice consumption by country again since that’s what we’re here for. Some data for the year 2017 is still being processed, but we found which country has the highest consumption of rice at Statista. These statistics showed a list of countries according to the overall rice consumed. To see how many kilograms were consumed per capita, we simply divided the number of total consumption with the country’s population (found at Worldometers). In that simple way, we got the rice consumption per capita by country without consulting FAO (our data is much more recent).

Let’s take a look which countries consumed the most rice in 2017. Here’s our list of 12 countries with highest rice consumption per capita!

12. Egypt

Annual rice consumption: 4,100,000,000 tons

Per capita: 41 kg

Guess what you’ll be eating while enjoying the view of the pyramids?

11. Japan

Annual rice consumption: 8,550,000,000 tons

Per capita: 67 kg

It appears that the Japanese eat less sushi than we were expecting. They’re not in the top ten of 12 countries with highest rice consumption per capita.

10. India

Annual rice consumption: 97,000,000,000 tons

Per capita: 71 kg

India is the second country in the world when it comes to rice consumption by country. It’s impossible to eat curry without some nicely boiled rice, isn’t it?

9. South Korea

Annual rice consumption: 4,700,000,000

Per capita: 91 kg

South Korea holds the exact same position when it comes to rice consumption by country and per capita.

8. China

Annual rice consumption: 144,000,000 tons

Per capita: 101 kg

Here’s the answer to what countries eat the most rice. China’s in the first place, followed by India and Indonesia. What countries import the most rice? China wins again!

7. Philippines

Annual rice consumption: 12,900,000,000 tons

Per capita: 121 kg

While the Western world eats chicken soup, its equivalent in the Philippines is Arroz Caldo, a rice porridge.

6. Indonesia

Annual rice consumption: 37,600,000,000 tons

Per capita: 140 kg

As we have mentioned before, Indonesia is in the third place when it comes to rice consumption per country, but it appears its annual consumption per capita is “mere” 140 kg.

5. Thailand

Annual rice consumption: 10,300,000,000 tons

Per capita: 148 kg

Not only do Thai people love eating rice, but they also produce so much of it that they’ve got extra. In 2017 Thailand exported some 11.48 million tonnes!

4. Burma (Myanmar)

Annual rice consumption: 10,850,000,000 tons

Per capita: 201 kg

Now we’re starting with some really serious numbers. As you can see, the citizens of Burma eat about 50 kg more rice than the Thai people.

3. Bangladesh

Annual rice consumption: 35,000,000,000 tons

Per capita: 210 kg

One of the most densely populated countries enjoys its rice servings, too.

2. Cambodia

Annual rice consumption: 3,725,000,000 tons

Per capita: 229 kg

Cambodia doesn’t make the top ten countries when we talk about the rice consumption in Asia per country. On the other hand, they come second in the world in rice consumption per capita.

1. Vietnam

Annual rice consumption: 22,700,000,000 tons

Per capita: 235 kg

Vietnam is the undeniable champion in 12 countries with highest rice consumption per capita. The country is also in the fifth place in the world when it comes to rice export.