Agricultural land use in China
China: Agricultural land use was 520.41 million hectares in 2023. ▲ Rising
Agricultural land use in China, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
In 2023, agricultural land use in China stood at 520.41 million hectares.
That represents a change of down 0.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, agricultural land use in China peaked at 528.22 million hectares in 2009 and was at its lowest, 342.35 million hectares, in 1961.
That places China 1st out of 226 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 355.13 million hectares | 342.35 million hectares | 370.00 million hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 398.46 million hectares | 374.60 million hectares | 423.04 million hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 465.99 million hectares | 427.60 million hectares | 499.49 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 518.68 million hectares | 505.69 million hectares | 522.87 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 525.55 million hectares | 522.87 million hectares | 528.22 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 524.08 million hectares | 520.70 million hectares | 527.46 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 520.48 million hectares | 520.41 million hectares | 520.60 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near China
More agriculture & rural data for China
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 1.30 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 6.7% (2025)
- Rural population 473.41 million (2025)
- Rural population growth -1.5% (2025)
- Rural population 33.7% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.7% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.3% (2024)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 6.7% (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 6.7% (2025)
- Land under cereal production 99.99 million hectares (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is agricultural land use in China?
- Agricultural land use in China was 520.41 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 China?
- The highest recorded value was 528.22 million hectares in 2009.
- What is the lowest agricultural land use recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 342.35 million hectares in 1961.
- How does China rank for agricultural land use?
- China ranks 1st out of 226 countries with data for 2023.
- Is agricultural land use rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this China 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.