Agricultural land use in Australia
Australia: Agricultural land use was 363.24 million hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling
Agricultural land use in Australia, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
Australia recorded 363.24 million hectares for agricultural land use in 2023.
The figure is down 0.1% on the previous year and down 2.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, agricultural land use in Australia peaked at 513.57 million hectares in 1968 and was at its lowest, 342.60 million hectares, in 2016.
That places Australia 3rd out of 226 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 488.85 million hectares | 474.48 million hectares | 513.57 million hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 497.22 million hectares | 491.51 million hectares | 500.74 million hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 481.78 million hectares | 467.10 million hectares | 495.64 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 463.09 million hectares | 453.69 million hectares | 469.14 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 418.40 million hectares | 384.26 million hectares | 455.70 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 368.97 million hectares | 342.60 million hectares | 396.12 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 361.51 million hectares | 355.77 million hectares | 363.52 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Australia
- 1 China 520.41 million hectares compare
- 2 United States 421.54 million hectares compare
- 4 Brazil 236.76 million hectares compare
- 5 Russia 215.70 million hectares compare
- 6 Kazakhstan 214.27 million hectares compare
More agriculture & rural data for Australia
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 40.76 billion current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 2.3% (2025)
- Rural population 3.39 million (2025)
- Rural population growth 0.6% (2025)
- Rural population 12.3% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.5% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.7% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 2.3% (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 2.3% (2025)
- Land under cereal production 19.46 million hectares (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is agricultural land use in Australia?
- Agricultural land use in Australia was 363.24 million hectares in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest agricultural land use recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 513.57 million hectares in 1968.
- What is the lowest agricultural land use recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 342.60 million hectares in 2016.
- How does Australia rank for agricultural land use?
- Australia ranks 3rd out of 226 countries with data for 2023.
- Is agricultural land use rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 2.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Agricultural land use. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 63 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Land used for cultivation of crops and animal husbandry. The total of areas under cropland and permanent meadows and pastures.