Cambodia formally exported 8.6 million tonnes of agricultural products to 74 markets last year worth nearly $5 billion, up 7.8 per cent from the 7.9 million tonnes booked in 2021, as agriculture contributed 22.2 per cent of the Kingdom’s 2022 gross domestic product (GDP), according to Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Dith Tina.

Included in the export total were 637,000 tonnes of milled rice, up 3.23 per cent from 617,000 tonnes in 2021, and 5.78 million tonnes of non-rice agricultural products, up from 5.01 million tonnes in 2021, Tina noted at his ministry’s annual meeting, according to a statement issued in conjunction with the event.

These figures suggest that formal rice agricultural exports that were not included in the “milled” total (mainly paddy) fell in the range of 2.127-2.163 million tonnes – accounting for rounding – compared to 2.295-2.329 million tonnes in 2021. Virtually all formal paddy exports tend to be shipped to neighbouring Vietnam.

For comparison, the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF), the Kingdom’s apex rice industry body earlier put the 2022 paddy export total at 3.4 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, crop production reached 34.71 million tonnes, broken down into the categories of horticultural (4.42 million tonnes), industrial (18.67 million tonnes) and rice (11.62 million tonnes), the last of which represented a surplus of 6.29 million tonnes, Tina added.

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Author: Hin Pisei

Source: The Phnom Penh Post

Publication: 29 March 2023