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PROJECT “NETWORK FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
THINK-TAKS FOR COUNTRIES IN MEKONG-SUB REGION” (NARDT)

floods and drought, and stronger competition pressures, according to the Thai Rice
Exporters Association. The growth in total consumption is expected to be limited
because feed demand is lower. Farmers continue to scale down swine and layer
production in 2019 in response to falling domestic prices for pork and eggs caused
by shrinking exports to neighboring countries (USDA, 2019). Broken rice is a major
feed ingredient in swine and duck layer productions, accounting respectively for 35
percent and 50 percent of their feed rations.

2.1.2 Domestic consumption
Figure 11: Consumption of rice per capita per year by country

Sources: Arthur’s estimation from rice consumption provided by USDA (2022), and
population provided by Worldbank (2022)

Rice is one of the main foods in the daily diet of Asian countries, hence, all
four countries: Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Lao PDR are among the top 10
countries having the highest consumption of rice per capita in 2020.

Of these 4 countries, Lao PDR consumed the most. In 2020-21, rice consumption
was estimated to remain at 1.67 million metric tons. Most Lao people prefer to eat
glutinous rice, and almost all the glutinous rice produced in Laos is used for domestic
consumption. Rice is an essential aspect of the Lao cuisine as well as the country’s
food security.

In Lao PDR, food consumption accounts for most of the consumption. However,
the rice consumption per capita in Lao PDR is steadily falling over the last five years
(from 2015 to 2020), particularly in metropolitan regions where the population has a
better income and a wider range of dietary alternatives. According to USDA (2020),
rice consumption is expected to rise in recent years due to the repatriation of Laotian
migrant workers from adjacent countries during the COVID-19 epidemic. Their return
will compensate for the lower number of visitors that visited during the closure to
avoid the spread of COVID-19.

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