Cambodia had exported 488,785 tons of milled rice in the first nine months of 2020, up 23 percent over the same period last year, the Cambodia Rice Federation told Xinhua on Saturday.

The Southeast Asian nation earned more than 328 million U.S. dollars in gross revenue from the commodity's export during the January-September period this year, it said in a statement.

"Within nine months of export this year, China is the lead market, absorbing 35 percent of overall market destinations, which the amount is 171,896 tons, and the European Union is the second lead, absorbing 33 percent, generating in the amount of 161,614 tons," it said.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market also absorbed 67,433 tons of the total export amount, the statement said, adding that the kingdom's milled rice has been shipped to 69 countries and regions across the globe.

Ngin Chhay, director general of agriculture at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said recently that the COVID-19 pandemic had driven high demand for Cambodian rice.

He forecast that the country's rice export to the international market is expected to reach at least 800,000 tons in 2020, an estimated rise of 29 percent from 620,106 tons last year.

Cambodia produced about 10 million tons of paddy rice last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. With this amount, the country saw a paddy rice surplus of about 5.6 million tons in equivalent to 3.5 million tons of milled rice.