North Korea’s food output rises as wheat production jumps, South Korean agency says
Published: 24 Dec. 2025, 16:19
Updated: 24 Dec. 2025, 16:27
North Korean farmers harvest crops in this photo released by Rodong Sinmun, which reported on Oct. 25 on progress being made in mechanization of rural management under a new rural development policy. [RODONG SINMUN
Noodles and bread are appearing more often in North Korean diets as the government promotes flour-based foods to address chronic shortages and reduce reliance on rice. New data shows that this shift is being reflected in agricultural output, with production of wheat and barley rising sharply this year.
Total food crop production in the North rose by about 120,000 tons, or 2.5 percent, from last year to 4.9 million tons, according to estimates released on Tuesday by South Korea’s Rural Development Administration.
The agency said its analysis drew on weather conditions across North Korea, pest and disease outbreaks, fertilizer availability, crop assessments by domestic and overseas research institutions and satellite imagery.
Rice remained the country’s largest crop, with output estimated at 2.25 million tons. Corn production reached 1.52 million tons, while potatoes and sweet potatoes accounted for about 550,000 tons. Wheat and barley production climbed to 360,000 tons, followed by soybeans at 200,000 tons and other minor grains at roughly 20,000 tons.
The most striking change came from wheat and barley, whose combined output jumped nearly 29 percent from a year earlier. Analysts say the increase reflects a policy push by leader Kim Jong-un to expand wheat cultivation as a way to diversify diets and alleviate chronic food shortages, alongside a gradual shift in food preferences among younger North Koreans toward flour-based meals.
Kim underscored that policy direction during a Workers’ Party plenary meeting in September, when he said the agricultural sector had achieved higher grain output than the year before and called for expanding wheat acreage and processing capacity until people’s eating habits change. In line with that directive, the cultivated area for wheat and barley increased this year to about 173,000 hectares (427,492 acres), up from 142,000 hectares in 2024.
![Dishes served at a restaurant in Changgwang Food Street, Pyongyang [CHOSON SINBO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/12/24/9ea0240c-ba4d-435b-ac11-4ef9e5126aff.jpg)
Dishes served at a restaurant in Changgwang Food Street, Pyongyang [CHOSON SINBO]
Rice production also rose, increasing by roughly 100,000 tons, or 4.6 percent. The RDA attributed the gain to favorable sunlight during the grain-filling period in late summer and an expansion of rice paddies to 536,000 hectares from the previous 519,000 hectares.
Corn, by contrast, declined by about 90,000 tons, or 5.6 percent. The RDA cited heavy rainfall and drought in some regions during the flowering period in July, which reduced pollination rates, as well as a cutback in planted area.
Experts have paid close attention to the fact that North Korea has now recorded output close to what is widely considered the minimum threshold for food self-sufficiency — roughly 5 million tons — for consecutive years since 2023. They attribute much of that improvement to the regime’s large-scale distribution of farm machinery ahead of the 2023 harvest.
In 2022, before the rollout, North Korea’s food crop production stood at 4.51 million tons. Output rose to 4.82 million tons the following year, an increase of 6.9 percent, and has remained on a similar upward path since.
“Kim ordered about 5,500 pieces of farm machinery produced by military factories to be sent to South Hwanghae Province, one of the country’s main grain-producing regions, in 2023,” Jung You-suk, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said.
“Mechanization likely boosted grain output and reduced losses that used to occur after harvest, particularly during threshing,” he said.
A joint study conducted in 2014 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the United Nations Development Programme with Kim Il Sung University estimated that post-harvest losses in North Korea amounted to 15 to 16 percent, or about 700,000 to 900,000 tons. Comparable losses in South Korea were estimated at 7 to 9 percent.
![North Korean farmers harvest crops in this photo released by the Rodong Sinmun on Feb. 22. [RODONG SINMUN]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/12/24/636616c5-188b-4458-9013-a317266b1b5f.jpg)
North Korean farmers harvest crops in this photo released by the Rodong Sinmun on Feb. 22. [RODONG SINMUN]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHUNG YEONG-GYO [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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