Romania's wheat production fell in 2024, while widespread drought led to double-digit losses in corn and sunflower production, preliminary data released today by the National Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) showed.

In 2024, the EU country planted 2.27 million hectares of wheat and harvested 9.29 million metric tons, down 3.5% from the previous year.

Corn harvested 5.99 million metric tons, down 31.45% from the previous year, and sunflower seed production was 1.49 million metric tons, down 26.04%.

Romania is one of the EU's biggest grain sellers and active exporters, with Egypt as its main buyer, but a persistent heat wave last summer damaged millions of tons of crops.

It was the EU's third-largest producer of corn and sunflowers and the fourth-largest wheat grower in 2024, the statistics office said.

Since the start of the 2024/25 year in July, EU soft wheat exports have reached 15.46 million tons as of March 23, down 35 percent year-on-year, data from the European Commission showed earlier this month.

Romania remains the EU's largest soft wheat exporter.