Sabah Agriculture in Numbers — Palm Oil, Paddy, Rubber & Cocoa
How big is agriculture in Sabah?
Agriculture, forestry and fishing made up 13.9% of Sabah's GDP in 2025, RM12.4 billion of RM88.8 billion at constant 2015 prices. The sector grew 0.9% in 2025 after shrinking 3.2% in 2024 (DOSM). Palm oil is by far the largest crop: Sabah had 1,496,558 hectares of oil palm in 2025 and produced 4,410,291 tonnes of crude palm oil (MPOB).
Away from palm oil, the main crops by weight are paddy, fruit, coconut, vegetables and rubber. Cocoa, once a major Sabah crop, now amounts to a few hundred tonnes a year. For fish and seaweed, see Sabah fisheries figures.
Paddy and fruit were Sabah's largest crops by weight after palm oil in 2022. Sabah produced 4.4 million tonnes of crude palm oil in 2025, far more than all of these together.
Source: DOSM crops_state (paddy, fruits, coconut, vegetables); DOSM via Ministry of Plantation and Commodities, Statistics on Commodities 2023 (rubber)
Key crops in numbers
Palm oil. 1,496,558 ha and 4,410,291 tonnes of crude palm oil in 2025, up 3.2% on 2024 (MPOB). That was about 22% of Malaysia's output. Sarawak produced slightly more in 2025 (4,496,339 tonnes). Full detail on the palm oil page.
Paddy. 107,565 tonnes from 37,323 ha in 2022, down from 122,390 tonnes and 42,442 ha in 2018 (DOSM). That is under 5% of Malaysia's 2.28 million tonnes. The Chief Minister said in May 2025 that Sabah grows about 22.8% of the rice it needs.
Rubber. About 170,700 ha in 2022, mostly smallholdings (160,500 ha), and 45,000 tonnes of natural rubber, up from 32,700 tonnes in 2018 (Ministry of Plantation and Commodities; DOSM). Sabah has about 15% of Malaysia's rubber area.
Cocoa. An estimated 271 tonnes of cocoa beans in 2022, from 3,444 ha, out of 493 tonnes nationally (Malaysian Cocoa Board). From January to August 2025 Sabah produced about 118 tonnes, 73% of the national total, mostly around Tenom (Borneo Post, 30 September 2025).
Coconut, fruit and vegetables. In 2022 Sabah produced 61,518 tonnes of coconut from 18,632 ha, 106,700 tonnes of fruit from 20,922 ha and 46,682 tonnes of vegetables from 4,353 ha (DOSM). Coconut output rose every year from 2017 to 2022.
Malaysia now produces well under 1,100 tonnes of cocoa beans a year, and Sabah around half or more of it. 2019–2022 are estimates.
Source: Malaysian Cocoa Board, in Ministry of Plantation and Commodities, Statistics on Commodities 2023, Table 3-2
Sabah's rubber output rose from 32,700 tonnes in 2018 to 45,000 tonnes in 2022, while national output fell from 603,300 to 377,000 tonnes.
Source: DOSM, in Ministry of Plantation and Commodities, Statistics on Commodities 2023, Table 2-3
How much of its rice does Sabah grow?
About 22.8%, according to the Chief Minister when the state launched its padi and rice board in May 2025. The state targets 30% by 2026 and 60% by 2030 (The Star, 10 May 2025). DOSM's figures show Sabah's paddy area shrinking from 43,546 ha in 2019 to 37,323 ha in 2022, and output between about 107,000 and 122,000 tonnes a year.
Support for Sabah's paddy farmers includes the federal Hill/Huma Padi Fertiliser and Pesticide Subsidy Scheme: RM42 million for fertiliser and RM11.4 million for herbicides, covering about 44,000 ha of hill padi in Sabah and Sarawak from the October planting season (Bernama).
Planted area fell by about 14% from 2019 to 2022, and production was 107,565 tonnes in 2022. DOSM's state series ends in 2022.
Source: DOSM crops_state (OpenDOSM)
What the national food plans say about Sabah
The National Agrofood Policy 2021–2030 (DAN 2.0) sets national self-sufficiency targets of 75% for rice in 2025 and 80% in 2030. It lists the Sabah agriculture ministry (MAF Sabah) as a supporting agency for large-scale paddy farming, land-use arrangements that enlarge farms, a move from input subsidies to vouchers and a "decoupled cash payment", and plant-factory farming, and notes heirloom speciality rice from Sabah and Sarawak as a growing market (DAN 2.0). The 13th Malaysia Plan says a corridor in Sabah and Sarawak, and in the Peninsula's east coast states, will be developed as food production hubs (13th Malaysia Plan). For Sabah's own rice targets and the national food targets side by side, see food self-sufficiency in Sabah.
Status as of September 2026: these are plan targets. The state's 30% rice target for 2026 compares with about 22.8% reported in May 2025 (The Star, 10 May 2025).
Q How big is agriculture in Sabah's economy?
Q How much rice does Sabah grow?
Q How much cocoa does Sabah produce?
Q How much rubber does Sabah have?
Q Is Sabah still Malaysia's biggest palm oil state?
Sources & References 9 sources
Last verified: 28 September 2026
Government statistics
- OpenDOSM: GDP by state and sector (gdp_state_real_supply) Sabah agriculture RM12,369m of RM88,774m GDP in 2025 (13.9%); growth 0.9% (2025), −3.2% (2024).
- OpenDOSM: Crop production by state (crops_state) Sabah paddy, fruits, coconut and vegetables, planted area and production 2017–2022.
- MPOB: Overview of the Malaysian Oil Palm Industry 2025 Planted area and CPO production by region, 2024 and 2025.
- Ministry of Plantation and Commodities: Statistics on Commodities 2023 — Cocoa Tables 3-1 and 3-2 (source: Malaysian Cocoa Board): cocoa area and bean production by region 2018–2022; 2019–2022 are estimates.
- Ministry of Plantation and Commodities: Statistics on Commodities 2023 — Rubber Table 2-1: rubber area by region (2019–2022 provisional); Table 2-3: production by region (DOSM).
- National Agrofood Policy 2021–2030 (DAN 2.0) National rice SSL 75% (2025) and 80% (2030); MAF Sabah supporting paddy, subsidy reform and plant-factory action plans; Sabah heirloom rice.
News
- The Star, 10 May 2025: Sabah launches padi, rice board to boost food self-sufficiency Chief Minister: about 22.8% of rice demand met locally; targets 30% by 2026 and 60% by 2030.
- Borneo Post, 30 September 2025: Sabah cocoa farmers contribute 73% of national production Jan–Aug 2025: Sabah 118 t of 161 t nationally; Tenom 55 t.
- Bernama: Hill padi fertiliser and pesticide subsidy scheme RM42m fertiliser and RM11.4m herbicide for about 44,000 ha of hill padi in Sabah and Sarawak.