Historically, pyridine was extracted from coal tar or obtained as a byproduct of coal gasification. The process is labor-consuming and inefficient: coal tar contains only about 0.1% pyridine, and therefore a multi-stage purification was required, which further reduced the output. Nowadays, most pyridines are synthesized from ammonia, aldehydes, and nitriles, a few combinations of which are suited for pyridine itself.   Various name reactions are also known, but they are not practiced on scale.
In 1989, 26,000 tonnes of pyridine was produced worldwide.  Other major derivatives are 2-, 3-, 4-methylpyridines and 5-ethyl-2-methylpyridine.  The combined scale of these alkylpyridines matches that of pyridine itself. Among the largest 25 production sites for pyridine, eleven are located in Europe (as of 1999). The major producers of pyridine include Evonik Industries, Rütgers Chemicals, Jubilant Life Sciences, Imperial Chemical Industries, and Koei Chemical. Pyridine production significantly increased in the early 2000s, with an annual production capacity of 30,000 tonnes in mainland China alone. The US–Chinese joint venture Vertellus is currently the world leader in pyridine production.