Seoul, Nov 15 (IANS): South Korea's rice output kept falling this year amid the lower cultivated area, statistical office data showed on Friday.

Rice production totaled 3,585,000 tonnes in 2024, down 3.2 per cent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea, Xinhua news agency reported.

Rice output kept sliding for the third straight year, as it retreated 3.0 per cent in 2022 and 1.6 per cent in 2023. Rice production continued to decrease for five successive years from 2016 to 2020.

This year's reduction was attributable to the lower cultivated area and the damage by insects and diseases.

The size of rice paddies across the country decreased 1.5 per cent over the year to 697,713 hectares in 2024, marking the lowest since relevant data began to be compiled in 1975.

Rice production per 0.1 hectare reduced by 1.8 per cent to 514 kg this year.

The country's rice consumption has roughly been on the decline for the past decades due to the change in eating habits.