Japan's private rice imports rise 96-fold to hit record high in 2025
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's private rice imports hit a record high of 96,779 tons in 2025, marking around a whopping 96-fold increase from the previous year as the price of domestically produced rice remains elevated, government data showed Thursday.
The surge from 1,008 tons in 2024 came despite the Japanese government implementing a tariff of 341 yen ($2.20) per kilogram on privately imported rice, with prices still comparatively cheaper than local alternatives.
According to the Finance Ministry's trade statistics, rice imports gradually rose from last January and peaked in July at 26,349 tons, before trending downward from August. The annual volume was the largest since comparable data became available in 2000.
The United States was the number one source, accounting for 75,638 tons, followed by Taiwan at 7,024 tons and Vietnam at 4,515 tons.
Japan currently imports some 770,000 tons of rice annually tariff-free under its minimum access commitment based on World Trade Organization rules.
Of that, up to 100,000 tons are destined for the private sector for staple food use. The private imports came on top of this tariff-free quota.
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