Agricultural land use in Ireland
Ireland: Agricultural land use was 4.19 million hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling
Latest (2023)
4.19 million hectares
Change on year
down 3.7%
World rank
95th
of 227 countries
All-time high
4.93 million hectares
in 1980
All-time low
4.19 million hectares
in 2023
Years of data
63
1961–2023
Agricultural land use in Ireland, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
Ireland recorded 4.19 million hectares for agricultural land use in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 63 years on record.
That represents a change of down 3.7% on the previous year and down 6.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, agricultural land use in Ireland peaked at 4.93 million hectares in 1980 and was at its lowest, 4.19 million hectares, in 2023.
Ireland ranks 95th of 227 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Agricultural land use in Ireland, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 4.56 million hectares | — |
| 1962 | 4.61 million hectares | +1.2% |
| 1963 | 4.62 million hectares | +0.1% |
| 1964 | 4.66 million hectares | +0.9% |
| 1965 | 4.71 million hectares | +1.0% |
| 1966 | 4.75 million hectares | +1.0% |
| 1967 | 4.78 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 1968 | 4.80 million hectares | +0.4% |
| 1969 | 4.82 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 1970 | 4.79 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 1971 | 4.82 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 1972 | 4.83 million hectares | +0.1% |
| 1973 | 4.84 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 1974 | 4.85 million hectares | +0.1% |
| 1975 | 4.84 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 1976 | 4.85 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 1977 | 4.88 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 1978 | 4.89 million hectares | +0.1% |
| 1979 | 4.90 million hectares | +0.2% |
| 1980 | 4.93 million hectares | +0.7% |
| 1981 | 4.91 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 1982 | 4.90 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 1983 | 4.88 million hectares | -0.4% |
| 1984 | 4.89 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 1985 | 4.88 million hectares | -0.2% |
| 1986 | 4.84 million hectares | -0.8% |
| 1987 | 4.82 million hectares | -0.6% |
| 1988 | 4.80 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 1989 | 4.68 million hectares | -2.6% |
| 1990 | 4.54 million hectares | -3.0% |
| 1991 | 4.44 million hectares | -2.0% |
| 1992 | 4.42 million hectares | -0.6% |
| 1993 | 4.41 million hectares | -0.2% |
| 1994 | 4.39 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 1995 | 4.39 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 1996 | 4.34 million hectares | -1.1% |
| 1997 | 4.36 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 1998 | 4.37 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 1999 | 4.38 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 2000 | 4.40 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 2001 | 4.41 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 2002 | 4.37 million hectares | -0.8% |
| 2003 | 4.37 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2004 | 4.30 million hectares | -1.5% |
| 2005 | 4.30 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2006 | 4.26 million hectares | -1.0% |
| 2007 | 4.28 million hectares | +0.4% |
| 2008 | 4.63 million hectares | +8.3% |
| 2009 | 4.59 million hectares | -0.8% |
| 2010 | 4.57 million hectares | -0.6% |
| 2011 | 4.55 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 2012 | 4.53 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 2013 | 4.48 million hectares | -1.2% |
| 2014 | 4.47 million hectares | -0.2% |
| 2015 | 4.43 million hectares | -0.8% |
| 2016 | 4.46 million hectares | +0.7% |
| 2017 | 4.49 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 2018 | 4.52 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 2019 | 4.52 million hectares | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 4.51 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 2021 | 4.34 million hectares | -3.9% |
| 2022 | 4.35 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 2023 | 4.19 million hectares | -3.7% |
Ireland compared with similar countries
- Ireland's 4.19 million hectares is above the median for high income countries, which is 982,000 hectares, 4.3× the median. (79 countries reporting)
- Ireland's 4.19 million hectares is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 2.61 million hectares, 1.6× the median. (54 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 4.70 million hectares | 4.56 million hectares | 4.82 million hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 4.85 million hectares | 4.79 million hectares | 4.90 million hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 4.85 million hectares | 4.68 million hectares | 4.93 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 4.40 million hectares | 4.34 million hectares | 4.54 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 4.39 million hectares | 4.26 million hectares | 4.63 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.50 million hectares | 4.43 million hectares | 4.57 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.35 million hectares | 4.19 million hectares | 4.51 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More agriculture & rural data for Ireland
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 22.64 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0106 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 1,391 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 0.9559 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.3541 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 1.1% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 1.1% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.3% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.5% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is agricultural land use in Ireland?
- Agricultural land use in Ireland was 4.19 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 Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 4.93 million hectares in 1980.
- What is the lowest agricultural land use recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.19 million hectares in 2023.
- How does Ireland rank for agricultural land use?
- Ireland ranks 95th out of 227 countries with data for 2023.
- Is agricultural land use rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 6.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ireland 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.