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Sejong , Nov. 26 ( Yonhap) - is expected to self-sufficiency rate in South Korea for rice than 90 percent in 2014 , for the first time in four years , said Tuesday the government officials.

According to officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, it is expected that the country's self-sufficiency rate for rice reaches 92 percent next year.

“Considering the amount of rice in reserve government, arguably the country is completely sufficient , since the total consumption covers both new rice as old, while the total production refers only to rice new crop " said a ministry official .

The estimate comes at a time when it is expected that the total consumption of the country lowered to around 4.58 million tonnes and per capita consumption is reduced to 1.75 percent, from 68.5 to 67 kilograms this year, 3 kg.

The ministry earlier said that the total rice production in the country grew by 5.6 percent year on year to just over 4.23 million tons this year.

The country's self-sufficiency rate for rice had remained well above 90 percent through 2010, but has remained in the range of 80 percent since falling to a record low of 83.1 percent in 2011.

It is expected that the self-sufficiency rate for this year to reach about 87 percent, since the total rice production in the country fell last year, up 5.2 percent year on year to about 4 million tons.