Where do the world's grains come from?

Grains & cereals covers barley, chickpeas, corn, lentils, oats, quinoa, rice, sorghum, wheat. What moves them together: Weather in a handful of breadbaskets, stocks-to-use ratios, export policy, fertilizer and fuel costs, biofuel mandates, the Black Sea.

What stands out across grains & cereals?

Among the 9 commodities in grains & cereals with a production ranking, supply is most concentrated in quinoa, where Peru produced 69% of the world total in 2024, and least concentrated in barley, where the largest producer, Russia, produced 12% in 2024. India is the largest producer of 2 of the 9. In 3 of them the largest producer is not the largest exporter by value, as for barley, where Russia produced 12% and Australia led exports of barley (HS 1003) with 19%. Production years differ by commodity and sources are FAOSTAT, USGS or the Energy Institute; exports are CEPII BACI trade records.

In the twelve months to September 2026, 5 of 6 priced commodities in this category had a higher benchmark price, with the largest rise for wheat (+48%) and the largest fall for barley (-40.4%). These are monthly benchmark series in their own units, from the World Bank Pink Sheet, IMF or other sources named on each price page, and a twelve-month change says nothing about what comes next.

Commodities in this category

Grains & cereals commodities with top producers and latest prices
Commodity	Top producers	Latest price	12 months
Barley A cereal grown for animal feed and for malting into beer and whisky; the most cold-tolerant of the major grains.	Share of world barley production: Russia 12%, Australia 9.3%, Germany 7.5%, Rest of world 71%. Russia 12%, Australia 9%, Germany 7% (2024)	$80.4/t Feed barley, FOB Black Sea	-40%
Chickpeas A pulse eaten whole or milled into flour, and the base of hummus and falafel.	Share of world chickpeas production: India 65%, Australia 13%, Turkey 3.4%, Rest of world 18%. India 65%, Australia 13%, Turkey 3% (2024)	—	—
Corn Maize: a cereal grown mostly for animal feed and ethanol, and as a staple food in Africa and Latin America.	Share of world corn production: United States 31%, China 24%, Brazil 9.4%, Rest of world 35%. United States 31%, China 24%, Brazil 9% (2024)	$239.6/t US No. 2 yellow, Gulf export	+21%
Lentils A fast-cooking pulse grown in dry temperate zones and traded heavily into South Asia.	Share of world lentils production: Canada 31%, India 23%, Australia 16%, Rest of world 30%. Canada 31%, India 23%, Australia 16% (2024)	—	—
Oats A cool-climate cereal eaten as flakes and porridge and fed to horses and livestock.	Share of world oats production: Canada 15%, Russia 13%, Poland 7.2%, Rest of world 64%. Canada 15%, Russia 13%, Poland 7% (2024)	$3.35/bu Oats, first-position futures, United States	+1%
Quinoa A high-altitude Andean seed eaten like a grain, which went from local staple to global export crop.	Share of world quinoa production: Peru 69%, Bolivia 30%, Ecuador 0.7%, Rest of world <0.1%. Peru 69%, Bolivia 30%, Ecuador 1% (2024)	—	—
Rice The staple grain of half the world, grown in flooded paddies and traded milled; production is counted as paddy (unmilled).	Share of world rice production: India 27%, China 25%, Bangladesh 7.4%, Rest of world 41%. India 27%, China 25%, Bangladesh 7% (2024)	$482/t Thai 5% broken, Bangkok FOB	+29%
Sorghum A drought-tolerant cereal eaten as a staple across the Sahel and India and fed to livestock elsewhere.	Share of world sorghum production: United States 14%, Nigeria 10%, India 8.4%, Rest of world 68%. United States 14%, Nigeria 10%, India 8% (2024)	$189.5/t US No. 2, Gulf export	+28%
Wheat A cereal grass whose grain is milled into flour for bread, pasta and noodles, and fed to livestock.	Share of world wheat production: China 18%, India 14%, Russia 10%, Rest of world 58%. China 18%, India 14%, Russia 10% (2024)	$347/t US hard red winter, Gulf export	+48%

Price index since 1960

Grains index

Source: World Bank Commodity Price Data (The Pink Sheet), monthly indices, 2010 = 100, published 2026-10-02. CC BY 4.0.

Indices are monthly averages and lag the market; informational only, not investment advice.

Which grains & cereals prices move together?

Within grains & cereals, corn and sorghum are the most closely linked: their monthly price changes correlate at 0.73. Correlation of monthly log price changes (not price levels), computed only over pairs with at least 90 overlapping months, the same method as the site-wide linked-prices report and the correlation calculator — this view is scoped to grains & cereals alone, which the site-wide report's top pairs rarely include.

Green: prices that rise and fall together. Brown: prices that move in opposite directions. Thicker and darker lines are stronger correlations.

Data updated 22 October 2026.