Production of Rice

In 2004 agriculture and forestry accounted for 21.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP),

1994–2004 the sector grew at an annual rate of 4.1 percent. (Agriculture's share of economic output has declined in recent years, falling as a share of GDP from 42% in 1989 to 26% in 1999, as production in other sectors of the economy has risen. However, agricultural employment was much higher than agriculture’s share of GDP.

In 2005 some 60 percent of the employed labor force was engaged in agriculture, forestry, and fishing. Agricultural products accounted for 30 percent of exports in 2005. The relaxation of the state monopoly on rice exports transformed the country into the world’s second or third largest rice exporter.