FAOSTAT · 2024
Agricultural production in South Africa
According to FAOSTAT, South Africa produced 15.3 million t of cereals, 2.7 million t of vegetables, 8.5 million t of fruit (20th in the world), 3.6 million t of meat (20th in the world) and 3.9 million t of milk in 2024. Its largest crops by volume were sugar cane (16.7 million t), maize (12.8 million t) and potatoes (2.6 million t).
- Products recorded
- 127
- World #1
- 0
- products
- World top 10
- 20
- products
- Year
- 2024
South Africa ranks second or third in the world for chicory roots.
Among its twelve largest crops, the biggest ten-year change was in tangerines and mandarins (+344%), followed by lemons and limes (+128%).
Livestock numbers: 12.1 million cattle, 1.3 million pigs, 21.2 million sheep and 5.1 million goats.
Totals by group
| Group | Tonnes | World rank | Share | 10-year change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All sugar crops | 16,741,000 | 19 | 0.75% | −5.7% |
| All cereals | 15,313,961 | 32 | 0.49% | −7.8% |
| All fruit | 8,466,120 | 20 | 0.89% | +20% |
| All milk | 3,883,000 | 36 | 0.39% | +16% |
| All meat | 3,625,721 | 20 | 0.97% | +13% |
| All citrus fruit | 3,623,219 | 12 | 2.19% | +33% |
| All roots and tubers | 2,694,063 | 53 | 0.29% | +17% |
| All vegetables | 2,689,970 | 42 | 0.23% | +6.5% |
| All eggs | 433,000 | 30 | 0.43% | −4.4% |
| All pulses | 75,109 | 81 | 0.08% | −24% |
| All tree nuts | 52,920 | 40 | 0.29% | +32% |
All products by volume, 2024
| Product | Tonnes | World rank | Share | 10-year change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar cane | 16,741,000 | 13 | 0.86% | −5.7% |
| Maize | 12,850,000 | 12 | 1.05% | −9.8% |
| Cow milk | 3,883,000 | 33 | 0.49% | +16% |
| Beer | 3,510,000 | 9 | 1.9% | +11% |
| Potatoes | 2,623,499 | 27 | 0.67% | +17% |
| Raw sugar | 2,075,000 | 17 | 1.11% | −15% |
| Wheat | 1,924,890 | 40 | 0.24% | +10% |
| Chicken meat | 1,915,000 | 16 | 1.49% | +12% |
| Grapes | 1,870,973 | 10 | 2.46% | −4.0% |
| Soybeans | 1,848,000 | 12 | 0.46% | +95% |
| Oranges | 1,667,261 | 12 | 2.48% | −7.2% |
| Apples | 1,327,545 | 11 | 1.36% | +71% |
| Beef (cattle meat) | 1,101,970 | 13 | 1.58% | +10% |
| Wine | 922,185 | 8 | 3.77% | −16% |
| Tangerines and mandarins | 770,000 | 11 | 1.48% | +344% |
| Lemons and limes | 748,644 | 9 | 3.23% | +128% |
| Molasses | 745,271 | 16 | 1.02% | −10% |
| Onions, dry | 718,569 | 31 | 0.66% | +12% |
| Sunflower seed | 632,000 | 13 | 1.21% | −24% |
| Tomatoes | 509,625 | 44 | 0.27% | −0.7% |
| Pears | 465,424 | 4 | 1.68% | +15% |
| Hen eggs | 433,000 | 29 | 0.46% | −4.4% |
| Bananas | 430,925 | 35 | 0.31% | −5.7% |
| Grapefruit and pomelos | 425,570 | 4 | 4.31% | +1.9% |
| Green maize | 418,357 | 8 | 4.42% | +15% |
| Barley | 374,000 | 41 | 0.26% | +24% |
| Pork (pig meat) | 365,630 | 34 | 0.29% | +56% |
| Soya bean oil | 322,900 | 21 | 0.54% | +231% |
| Edible offal of cattle, fresh, chilled or frozen | 320,573 | 7 | 3.31% | +10% |
| Skim milk of cows | 315,711 | 54 | 0.22% | −26% |
| Pumpkins and squash | 295,149 | 21 | 0.85% | −30% |
| Rapeseed | 288,200 | 22 | 0.33% | +138% |
| Sunflower-seed oil, crude | 252,700 | 13 | 1.12% | +14% |
| Carrots and turnips | 227,122 | 33 | 0.5% | +22% |
| Cabbages | 206,766 | 33 | 0.27% | +43% |
| Other vegetables, fresh n.e.c. | 175,332 | 62 | 0.06% | +36% |
| Sheep meat | 168,000 | 15 | 1.46% | −8.7% |
| Raw hides and skins of cattle | 138,247 | 10 | 1.58% | +10% |
| Peaches and nectarines | 136,240 | 20 | 0.49% | −18% |
| Avocados | 123,448 | 20 | 1.1% | +15% |
| Pineapples | 121,397 | 31 | 0.41% | +33% |
| Mangoes and guavas | 108,148 | 39 | 0.17% | +13% |
| Sorghum | 98,000 | 40 | 0.15% | −63% |
| Watermelons | 88,590 | 66 | 0.08% | +48% |
| Oil of maize | 86,800 | 4 | 2.82% | +7.6% |
| Plums | 82,381 | 20 | 0.65% | +7.1% |
| Margarine and shortening | 78,312 | 28 | 0.59% | +161% |
| Rapeseed or canola oil, crude | 73,000 | 32 | 0.23% | +125% |
| Sweet potatoes | 70,564 | 50 | 0.08% | +13% |
| Tallow | 68,000 | 18 | 0.83% | +68% |
| Cheese from whole cow milk | 62,296 | 42 | 0.27% | −30% |
| Edible offal of sheep, fresh, chilled or frozen | 58,286 | 7 | 2.94% | −8.7% |
| Game meat, fresh, chilled or frozen | 53,993 | 10 | 2.63% | +21% |
| Other nuts | 52,920 | 7 | 4.85% | +32% |
| Groundnuts (peanuts) | 52,000 | 40 | 0.09% | −30% |
| Beans, dry | 50,495 | 50 | 0.17% | −39% |
| Seed cotton | 48,712 | 37 | 0.07% | +106% |
| Whole milk, evaporated | 45,106 | 10 | 1.57% | −17% |
| Wool, greasy | 43,355 | 10 | 2.56% | −4.1% |
| Oats | 42,800 | 38 | 0.19% | +104% |
| Mushrooms | 37,380 | 20 | 0.07% | +116% |
| Cattle fat, unrendered | 36,064 | 13 | 1.06% | +10% |
| Lettuce and chicory | 34,451 | 36 | 0.12% | −8.4% |
| Cucumbers | 32,499 | 68 | 0.04% | +29% |
| Cotton seed | 26,452 | 38 | 0.06% | +208% |
| Apricots | 24,585 | 31 | 0.53% | −30% |
| Raw hides and skins of sheep or lambs | 24,343 | 19 | 1.12% | −8.7% |
| Edible offal of pigs, fresh, chilled or frozen | 22,130 | 22 | 0.27% | +56% |
| Lupins | 19,200 | 8 | 1.27% | +72% |
| Chillies and peppers, dry | 17,990 | 24 | 0.33% | +3.1% |
| Other beans, green | 16,769 | 37 | 0.06% | −21% |
| Cotton lint | 16,045 | 39 | 0.06% | +208% |
| Other fruits, n.e.c. | 15,952 | 82 | 0.04% | −78% |
| Butter of cow milk | 15,900 | 46 | 0.27% | −15% |
| Other oil seeds, n.e.c. | 15,252 | 31 | 0.63% | +4.1% |
| Strawberries | 15,065 | 34 | 0.14% | +117% |
| Melons | 14,638 | 60 | 0.05% | −20% |
| Cereals n.e.c. | 12,676 | 27 | 0.16% | −28% |
| Goat meat | 12,440 | 53 | 0.16% | +16% |
| Other citrus fruit, n.e.c. | 11,744 | 27 | 0.09% | +8.3% |
| Cauliflower and broccoli | 11,651 | 47 | 0.04% | +0.4% |
| Tobacco, unmanufactured | 11,231 | 36 | 0.19% | −13% |
| Whole milk, condensed | 7,851 | 25 | 0.4% | −31% |
| Papayas | 7,782 | 40 | 0.05% | −47% |
| Whole milk powder | 7,098 | 39 | 0.14% | −31% |
| Other berries and fruits of the genus vaccinium n.e.c. | 6,727 | 17 | 0.62% | +256% |
| Castor oil seeds | 6,609 | 10 | 0.36% | +3.2% |
| Millet | 6,331 | 53 | 0.02% | +0.8% |
| Cottonseed oil | 5,700 | 38 | 0.14% | −48% |
| Turkey meat | 5,687 | 30 | 0.11% | +5.1% |
| Cow peas, dry | 4,530 | 28 | 0.04% | −7.5% |
| Chicory roots | 4,371 | 3 | 17.85% | −12% |
| Edible offal of goat, fresh, chilled or frozen | 4,297 | 37 | 0.29% | +16% |
| Peas, green | 4,281 | 49 | 0.02% | −54% |
| Skim milk, evaporated | 3,967 | 4 | 4.62% | −33% |
| Skim milk and whey powder | 3,662 | 39 | 0.08% | −32% |
| Rice (paddy) | 3,082 | 103 | 0% | +0.8% |
| Whey, dry | 3,053 | 34 | 0.09% | +31% |
| Ghee from cow milk | 2,920 | 16 | 0.45% | +203% |
| Tea, packed | 2,900 | 45 | 0.04% | — |
| Pig fat, rendered | 2,484 | 55 | 0.04% | +155% |
| Cream, fresh | 2,403 | 53 | 0.06% | −25% |
| Sheep fat, unrendered | 2,400 | 36 | 0.37% | −8.7% |
| Other fibre crops, raw, n.e.c. | 2,314 | 11 | 0.35% | −7.6% |
| Rye | 1,957 | 49 | 0.02% | −5.6% |
| Tea leaves | 1,796 | 36 | 0.01% | −9.7% |
| Cherries | 1,733 | 51 | 0.06% | +480% |
| Sisal | 1,256 | 9 | 0.54% | +0.3% |
| Duck meat | 1,248 | 41 | 0.02% | +9.5% |
| Horse meat, fresh or chilled | 1,236 | 28 | 0.17% | −7.8% |
| Chillies and peppers, green | 1,182 | 107 | 0% | +27% |
| Raw hides and skins of goats or kids | 1,086 | 66 | 0.07% | +16% |
| Honey | 1,084 | 78 | 0.05% | 0.0% |
| Figs | 1,060 | 35 | 0.08% | −49% |
| Fat of pigs | 962 | 67 | 0.01% | +56% |
| Peas, dry | 884 | 80 | 0.01% | −6.2% |
| Asparagus | 836 | 27 | 0.01% | +157% |
| Kenaf | 793 | 16 | 0.34% | −6.8% |
| Buttermilk, dry | 768 | 60 | 0.12% | — |
| Oil of sesame seed | 545 | 47 | 0.05% | −11% |
| Goose meat | 516 | 15 | 0.01% | +6.6% |
| Hop cones | 472 | 17 | 0.3% | +9.8% |
| Quinces | 289 | 31 | 0.04% | −49% |
| Buckwheat | 224 | 15 | 0.01% | −7.1% |
| Groundnut oil | 200 | 81 | 0% | −94% |
| Goat fat, unrendered | 181 | 67 | 0.06% | +16% |
| Edible offals of horses and other equines, fresh, chilled or frozen | 113 | 28 | 0.12% | −8.1% |
Live animals, 2024
| Product | Head | World rank | Share | 10-year change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chickens | 175,199,000 | 30 | 0.63% | +9.0% |
| Sheep | 21,240,448 | 19 | 1.56% | −12% |
| Cattle | 12,122,027 | 28 | 0.77% | −13% |
| Goats | 5,100,449 | 38 | 0.43% | −15% |
| Pigs | 1,315,727 | 59 | 0.14% | −16% |
| Turkeys | 540,000 | 27 | 0.22% | +1.9% |
| Ducks | 439,000 | 40 | 0.03% | +9.7% |
| Horses | 339,966 | 28 | 0.6% | +9.0% |
| Geese | 147,000 | 19 | 0.04% | +6.5% |
| Asses | 142,579 | 30 | 0.26% | −8.6% |
| Bees | 72,470 | 66 | 0.07% | +6.6% |
| Mules and hinnies | 16,068 | 25 | 0.21% | +7.1% |
Source: FAO. 2025. FAOSTAT: Crops and livestock products. Accessed on 4 November 2026. fao.org/faostat. Licence: CC BY 4.0. Charts, rankings and changes calculated by Husfarm.