Arable land (hectares) - Country Ranking

Definition: Arable land (in hectares) includes land defined by the FAO as land under temporary crops (double-cropped areas are counted once), temporary meadows for mowing or for pasture, land under market or kitchen gardens, and land temporarily fallow. Land abandoned as a result of shifting cultivation is excluded.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site.

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 United States 157,736,800.00 2018
2 India 156,416,000.00 2018
3 Russia 121,649,000.00 2018
4 China 119,488,700.00 2018
5 Brazil 55,762,000.00 2018
6 Argentina 39,200,000.00 2018
7 Canada 38,687,000.00 2018
8 Nigeria 34,000,000.00 2018
9 Ukraine 32,888,000.00 2018
10 Australia 30,974,000.00 2018
11 Pakistan 30,507,000.00 2018
12 Kazakhstan 29,748,400.00 2018
13 Indonesia 26,300,000.00 2018
14 Mexico 23,905,000.00 2018
15 Sudan 19,823,160.00 2018
16 Turkey 19,723,000.00 2018
17 France 18,126,400.00 2018
18 Niger 17,700,000.00 2018
19 Thailand 16,810,000.00 2018
20 Ethiopia 16,187,000.00 2018
21 Iran 14,687,000.00 2018
22 Tanzania 13,500,000.00 2018
23 South Africa 12,000,000.00 2018
24 Spain 11,884,250.00 2018
25 Dem. Rep. Congo 11,800,000.00 2018
26 Germany 11,731,000.00 2018
27 Myanmar 11,080,300.00 2018
28 Poland 11,009,000.00 2018
29 Romania 8,686,000.00 2018
30 Bangladesh 7,772,300.00 2018
31 Afghanistan 7,703,000.00 2018
32 Algeria 7,505,017.00 2018
33 Morocco 7,477,600.00 2018
34 Vietnam 6,988,300.00 2018
35 Uganda 6,900,000.00 2018
36 Italy 6,723,000.00 2018
37 Mali 6,411,000.00 2018
38 Cameroon 6,200,000.00 2018
39 United Kingdom 6,037,788.00 2018
40 Colombia 6,021,000.00 2018
41 Burkina Faso 6,000,000.00 2018
42 Kenya 5,800,000.00 2018
43 Belarus 5,712,000.00 2018
44 Mozambique 5,650,000.00 2018
45 Philippines 5,590,000.00 2018
46 Chad 5,200,000.00 2018
47 Iraq 5,000,000.00 2018
48 Angola 4,900,000.00 2018
49 Paraguay 4,734,000.00 2018
50 Ghana 4,700,000.00 2018
51 Syrian Arab Republic 4,662,000.00 2018
52 Bolivia 4,480,000.00 2018
53 Hungary 4,324,000.00 2018
54 Japan 4,142,000.00 2018
55 Uzbekistan 4,064,500.00 2018
56 Zimbabwe 4,000,000.00 2018
57 Cambodia 3,911,000.00 2018
58 Zambia 3,800,000.00 2018
59 Malawi 3,600,000.00 2018
60 Côte d'Ivoire 3,500,000.00 2018
61 Bulgaria 3,478,000.00 2018
62 Saudi Arabia 3,437,000.00 2018
63 Peru 3,429,700.00 2018
64 Senegal 3,200,000.00 2018
65 Guinea 3,100,000.00 2018
66 Madagascar 3,000,000.00 2018
67 Egypt 2,910,969.00 2018
68 Cuba 2,908,600.00 2018
69 Benin 2,800,000.00 2018
70 Togo 2,650,000.00 2018
71 Tunisia 2,607,000.00 2018
72 Venezuela 2,600,000.00 2018
73 Serbia 2,583,000.00 2018
74 Sweden 2,550,000.00 2018
75 Czech Republic 2,484,000.00 2018
76 Denmark 2,392,000.00 2018
77 Dem. People's Rep. Korea 2,350,000.00 2018
78 Finland 2,244,000.00 2018
79 Greece 2,136,600.00 2018
80 Lithuania 2,115,000.00 2018
81 Nepal 2,113,700.00 2018
82 Azerbaijan 2,097,900.00 2018
83 Uruguay 1,976,900.00 2018
84 Turkmenistan 1,940,000.00 2018
85 Central African Republic 1,800,000.00 2018
86 Libya 1,720,000.00 2018
87 Moldova 1,681,700.00 2018
88 Sierra Leone 1,584,000.00 2018
89 Lao PDR 1,550,000.00 2018
90 Nicaragua 1,504,000.00 2018
91 Korea 1,374,000.00 2018
92 Sri Lanka 1,371,600.00 2018
93 Slovak Republic 1,348,000.00 2018
94 Mongolia 1,327,400.00 2018
95 Austria 1,327,150.00 2018
96 Latvia 1,295,000.00 2018
97 Kyrgyz Republic 1,288,000.00 2018
98 Chile 1,213,000.00 2018
99 Burundi 1,200,000.00 2018
100 Rwanda 1,151,700.00 2018
101 Somalia 1,100,000.00 2018
102 Yemen 1,097,700.00 2018
103 Haiti 1,070,000.00 2018
104 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1,029,000.00 2018
105 Netherlands 1,021,000.00 2018
106 Honduras 1,020,000.00 2018
107 Ecuador 968,000.00 2018
108 Portugal 919,180.00 2018
109 Dominican Republic 877,000.00 2018
110 Guatemala 862,000.00 2018
111 Belgium 850,000.00 2018
112 Malaysia 826,000.00 2018
113 Croatia 804,000.00 2018
114 Norway 803,210.00 2018
115 Namibia 800,000.00 2018
116 Tajikistan 701,800.00 2018
117 Eritrea 690,000.00 2018
118 Estonia 688,000.00 2018
119 El Salvador 627,000.00 2018
120 Albania 611,346.00 2018
121 Panama 565,000.00 2018
122 Congo 550,000.00 2018
123 Liberia 500,000.00 2018
124 New Zealand 491,000.00 2018
125 Ireland 451,000.00 2018
126 Armenia 445,600.00 2018
127 The Gambia 440,000.00 2018
128 Lesotho 429,300.00 2018
129 Guyana 420,000.00 2018
130 North Macedonia 418,000.00 2018
131 Mauritania 400,000.00 2018
132 Switzerland 398,138.90 2018
133 Israel 383,500.00 2018
134 Gabon 325,000.00 2018
135 Georgia 311,000.00 2018
136 Guinea-Bissau 300,000.00 2018
136 Papua New Guinea 300,000.00 2018
138 Botswana 259,600.00 2018
139 Costa Rica 252,500.00 2018
140 Jordan 201,000.00 2018
141 Slovenia 181,780.00 2018
142 Eswatini 175,000.00 2018
143 Fiji 165,000.00 2018
144 Timor-Leste 155,000.00 2018
145 Lebanon 132,000.00 2018
146 Iceland 121,000.00 2018
147 Equatorial Guinea 120,000.00 2018
147 Jamaica 120,000.00 2018
149 Cyprus 104,005.00 2018
150 Bhutan 94,000.00 2018
151 Belize 90,000.00 2018
152 Oman 76,660.00 2018
153 Mauritius 75,000.00 2018
154 Comoros 66,000.00 2018
155 Luxembourg 62,114.00 2018
156 Suriname 62,000.00 2018
157 Puerto Rico 50,200.00 2018
158 Cabo Verde 50,000.00 2018
159 United Arab Emirates 42,300.00 2018
160 Samoa 32,500.00 2018
161 Trinidad and Tobago 25,000.00 2018
162 Solomon Islands 20,000.00 2018
162 Tonga 20,000.00 2018
162 Vanuatu 20,000.00 2018
165 Qatar 14,000.00 2018
166 Montenegro 9,200.00 2018
167 Malta 9,070.00 2018
168 Kuwait 8,000.00 2018
168 The Bahamas 8,000.00 2018
170 Barbados 7,000.00 2018
171 Dominica 6,000.00 2018
172 New Caledonia 5,970.00 2018
173 St. Kitts and Nevis 5,000.00 2018
173 Brunei 5,000.00 2018
175 Antigua and Barbuda 4,000.00 2018
175 São Tomé and Principe 4,000.00 2018
177 St. Lucia 3,000.00 2018
177 Hong Kong SAR, China 3,000.00 2018
177 Grenada 3,000.00 2018
180 Liechtenstein 2,160.00 2018
181 Djibouti 2,000.00 2018
181 Kiribati 2,000.00 2018
181 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 2,000.00 2018
184 San Marino 1,985.00 2018
185 Bahrain 1,600.00 2018
186 Greenland 900.00 2015
187 Andorra 830.00 2018
188 Singapore 560.00 2018
189 Palau 300.00 2018
190 Cayman Islands 200.00 2018
191 Seychelles 150.00 2018

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Development Relevance: Agricultural land covers more than one-third of the world's land area. Agricultural land constitutes only a part of any country's total area, which can include areas not suitable for agriculture, such as forests, mountains, and inland water bodies. Agriculture is still a major sector in many economies, and agricultural activities provide developing countries with food and revenue. But agricultural activities also can degrade natural resources. Poor farming practices can cause soil erosion and loss of soil fertility. Efforts to increase productivity by using chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and intensive irrigation have environmental costs and health impacts. Excessive use of chemical fertilizers can alter the chemistry of soil. Pesticide poisoning is common in developing countries. And salinization of irrigated land diminishes soil fertility. Thus, inappropriate use of inputs for agricultural production has far-reaching effects. There is significant geographic variation in the availability of land considered suitable for agriculture. Increasing population and demand from other sectors place growing pressure on available resources. According to FAO, the world's cultivated area has grown by 12 percent over the last 50 years. The global irrigated area has doubled over the same period, accounting for most of the net increase in cultivated land. Agriculture already uses 11 percent of the world's land surface for crop production. It also makes use of 70 percent of all water withdrawn from aquifers, streams and lakes. Agricultural policies have primarily benefitted farmers with productive land and access to water, bypassing the majority of small-scale producers who are still locked in a poverty trap of high vulnerability, land degradation and climatic uncertainty. Land resources are central to agriculture and rural development, and are intrinsically linked to global challenges of food insecurity and poverty, climate change adaptation and mitigation, as well as degradation and depletion of natural resources that affect the livelihoods of millions of rural people across the world. In many industrialized countries, agricultural land is subject to zoning regulations. In the context of zoning, agricultural land (or more properly agriculturally zoned land) refers to plots that may be used for agricultural activities, regardless of the physical type or quality of land.

Limitations and Exceptions: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) tries to impose standard definitions and reporting methods, but complete consistency across countries and over time is not possible. Thus, data on agricultural land in different climates may not be comparable. For example, permanent pastures are quite different in nature and intensity in African countries and dry Middle Eastern countries. The data collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations from official national sources through the questionnaire are supplemented with information from official secondary data sources. The secondary sources cover official country data from websites of national ministries, national publications and related country data reported by various international organizations. Data on agricultural land are valuable for conducting studies on a various perspectives concerning agricultural production, food security and for deriving cropping intensity among others uses. Agricultural land indicator, along with land-use indicators, can also elucidate the environmental sustainability of countries' agricultural practices. True comparability of the data is limited, however, by variations in definitions, statistical methods, and quality of data. Countries use different definitions land use. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the primary compiler of the data, occasionally adjusts its definitions of land use categories and revises earlier data. Because the data reflect changes in reporting procedures as well as actual changes in land use, apparent trends should be interpreted cautiously. Satellite images show land use that differs from that of ground-based measures in area under cultivation and type of land use. Moreover, land use data in some countries (India is an example) are based on reporting systems designed for collecting tax revenue. With land taxes no longer a major source of government revenue, the quality and coverage of land use data have declined.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Temporary fallow land refers to land left fallow for less than five years. The abandoned land resulting from shifting cultivation is not included in this category. Data for "Arable land" are not meant to indicate the amount of land that is potentially cultivable.

Periodicity: Annual