The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Bhutan’s cultivated land declined by more than 5,000 hectares between 2021 and 2024, while the availability of several key food commodities and nutrients also showed a downward trend, according to the country’s first Food Balance Sheets (FBS) Report. The report was launched on July 15 2026.
The FBS Report 2021-2024, compiled by the National Statistics Bureau (NSB) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, provides an assessment of Bhutan’s food supply, utilisation patterns, and nutritional availability.
The first national FBS provide a broad picture of Bhutan’s food system, showing not only what the country produces but also how food availability, nutrition, and import dependence are changing.
The report presents key indicators, including per capita Dietary Energy Supply (DES), protein and fat availability, self-sufficiency ratio (SSR), and import dependency ratio (IDR).
It brings together data on domestic production, trade, and food utilisation to provide a comprehensive picture of Bhutan’s food supply situation and support food security planning.
The NSB stated that the assessment contributes to efforts towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals, which aims to end hunger and ensure access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food for all by 2030.
The report highlights a decline in Bhutan’s cultivated area during the four years. “The gross cropped area of all crops in Bhutan was about 36.6 thousand hectares in 2024,” the report states, noting that this had declined from about 42.0 thousand hectares in 2021.
The decline was observed across most crop categories, with spices recording the sharpest reduction. According to the report, “The harvested area nearly halved, falling from 6.1 thousand hectares in 2021 to 3.4 thousand hectares in 2024,” reducing the share of spices in the overall cropped area from 14.5 percent to about 9 percent.
Despite the decline, cereals remained the dominant crop category, accounting for about 53 percent of the gross cropped area in 2024, while vegetables accounted for 12 percent.
The report also noted that the share of land used for fruit cultivation increased from seven percent to nine percent during the same period.
Rice and maize continued to be the major cereal crops produced in Bhutan. In 2024, Bhutan produced 41,537 MT of rice from 9,112 hectares of land, while maize production stood at 27,635 MT from 7,531 hectares.
Among vegetables, chilli was the leading crop, with 5,596 MT produced from 224 hectares in 2024. The report identified oranges as the most significant fruit crop, with 20,830 MT produced from 1,887 hectares, followed by apples with 2,102 MT produced from 411 hectares.
In livestock production, milk, meat, and eggs remained the main products. The report recorded, “44,000 MT of milk and 4,908 MT of eggs were produced in 2024, alongside 1,419 MT of cattle meat, 1,555 MT of pig meat, and 1,208 MT of poultry meat.”
However, the report points to concerns beyond production, with declining availability of several food commodities and nutrients over the period.
Between 2021 and 2024, per capita availability of cereals, excluding beer, declined from 201 kg to 183 kg annually. Cereals remain the largest component of Bhutan’s vegetal food supply, averaging 194 kg per person annually.
The availability of several other food groups also declined.
Starchy roots fell from 17 kg to 11 kg per person, and pulses decreased by 6 kg to 4 kg per person, while tree nuts decreased from 26 kg to 16 kg during the period.
Among animal products, milk remained the largest source of supply but declined from 93 kg to 69 kg per person in 2023 before partially recovering.
Meat availability decreased from 13 kg to 11 kg, while egg availability declined from 8 kg to 6 kg.
The report notes that these trends could have implications for dietary diversity and nutritional security, particularly as several important sources of protein showed a decline.
Daily per capita protein supply from plant-based food products declined from 47.01 grams to 43.59 grams between 2021 and 2024.
Cereals remained the dominant contributor, accounting for around 80 percent of vegetal protein supply, but also declined from 37.67 grams to 35.04 grams per person per day.
Animal protein supply also decreased, falling from 23.4 grams to 19.1 grams per person per day.
Milk products remained the largest contributor, accounting for 61 percent of animal protein supply, but declined from 14.51 grams to 11.90 grams during the period.
Meat and eggs also recorded declines.
The report also found a decline in overall dietary energy supply.
Total energy availability decreased from 2,964 kilocalories to 2,768 kilocalories per person per day between 2021 and 2024. Vegetal products continued to provide the majority of energy supply, contributing around 88 percent on average, while energy from animal products also declined.
At the same time, Bhutan continues to depend on imports for several important food commodities. The report found that the country’s self-sufficiency ratio remained low for cereals, vegetable oils, and pulses, averaging 33 percent, 12 percent, and 17 percent respectively.
Import dependency was highest for vegetable oils at 88 percent, followed by pulses at 83 percent and cereals at 67 percent.
Among animal products, meat recorded an average import dependency ratio of 54 percent, while milk stood at 35 percent.
As Bhutan’s first national FBS, the report establishes an important baseline for tracking changes in the country’s food system. Beyond measuring production, it highlights emerging challenges in food availability, nutritional supply, and import dependence that could inform future agricultural, trade, and food security policies.
