SEOUL, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's rice output was estimated to fall 0.3 percent this year due to lower cultivation area, statistical office data showed Thursday.
A combined 3,574,000 tons of rice, a key staple food for South Koreans, was expected to be produced in the country in 2025, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
It was down 0.3 percent compared to 3,585,000 tons in the previous year, keeping a downward trend for the fourth consecutive year.
The lower rice production was attributable to a continued fall in rice paddies.
The size of rice paddies across South Korea declined 2.9 percent over the year to 678,000 hectares in 2025, marking the lowest since relevant data began to be compiled in 1965.
Consumption of rice in the country has been on the decline in recent decades owing to changes in eating habits.
This year's estimated rice production was some 165,000 tons more than expected rice demand, such as rice consumption and processing, as well as the government's rice reserves. ■
