World Cereal Output, Trade Projected To Decline In Year Ahead: FAO

ROME, (Pakistan Point News - 06th Jun, 2026) World cereal production in the 2026/27 season is expected to drop by 2% year on year to 2 982 million tonnes, led by declining wheat harvests, according to FAO’s latest Cereal Supply and Demand Brief.

The expected decline follows a 6.1% increase in 2025/26 to a record 3 043 million tonnes, with the marketing season coming to an end. This robust growth led to an estimated 9.5 percent increase in global cereals stocks.

World cereal utilization is forecast to increase by 0.6% in 2026/2027, slowing down from the 2.7% pace recorded in the previous season. Based on current forecasts, world cereal stocks are predicted to contract slightly, by 0.3%, due mostly to lower anticipated rice inventories, leaving the global cereal stock-to-use ratio, at 31.7%, close to its earlier level.

After expanding by 4.8% in 2025/26, global cereal trade is predicted to decline by 0.3% to 507.2 million tonnes in the year ahead, as expected lower wheat and barley traded volumes more than offset foreseen increases in maize and rice shipments.