Agricultural land use in Japan
Japan: Agricultural land use was 4.61 million hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling
Latest (2023)
4.61 million hectares
Change on year
down 0.6%
World rank
94th
of 227 countries
All-time high
7.12 million hectares
in 1962
All-time low
4.61 million hectares
in 2023
Years of data
63
1961–2023
Agricultural land use in Japan, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
Japan recorded 4.61 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 0.6% on the previous year and down 5.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, agricultural land use in Japan peaked at 7.12 million hectares in 1962 and was at its lowest, 4.61 million hectares, in 2023.
That places Japan 94th out of 227 countries with data for 2023, putting it 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 Japan, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 7.11 million hectares | — |
| 1962 | 7.12 million hectares | +0.1% |
| 1963 | 7.02 million hectares | -1.4% |
| 1964 | 7.03 million hectares | +0.1% |
| 1965 | 7.00 million hectares | -0.4% |
| 1966 | 6.90 million hectares | -1.5% |
| 1967 | 6.84 million hectares | -0.8% |
| 1968 | 6.80 million hectares | -0.6% |
| 1969 | 6.65 million hectares | -2.1% |
| 1970 | 6.70 million hectares | +0.7% |
| 1971 | 6.54 million hectares | -2.3% |
| 1972 | 6.47 million hectares | -1.1% |
| 1973 | 6.42 million hectares | -0.8% |
| 1974 | 6.38 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 1975 | 6.32 million hectares | -0.8% |
| 1976 | 6.27 million hectares | -0.8% |
| 1977 | 6.24 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 1978 | 6.21 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 1979 | 6.18 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 1980 | 6.15 million hectares | -0.4% |
| 1981 | 6.12 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 1982 | 6.09 million hectares | -0.4% |
| 1983 | 6.07 million hectares | -0.4% |
| 1984 | 6.04 million hectares | -0.4% |
| 1985 | 6.02 million hectares | -0.4% |
| 1986 | 5.99 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 1987 | 5.96 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 1988 | 5.92 million hectares | -0.6% |
| 1989 | 5.88 million hectares | -0.8% |
| 1990 | 5.83 million hectares | -0.8% |
| 1991 | 5.78 million hectares | -0.8% |
| 1992 | 5.74 million hectares | -0.8% |
| 1993 | 5.69 million hectares | -0.9% |
| 1994 | 5.62 million hectares | -1.1% |
| 1995 | 5.56 million hectares | -1.1% |
| 1996 | 5.50 million hectares | -1.1% |
| 1997 | 5.44 million hectares | -1.1% |
| 1998 | 5.38 million hectares | -1.1% |
| 1999 | 5.32 million hectares | -1.0% |
| 2000 | 5.26 million hectares | -1.2% |
| 2001 | 5.21 million hectares | -0.9% |
| 2002 | 5.17 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 2003 | 5.14 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 2004 | 5.11 million hectares | -0.6% |
| 2005 | 5.08 million hectares | -0.6% |
| 2006 | 5.05 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 2007 | 5.03 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 2008 | 5.00 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 2009 | 4.97 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 2010 | 4.95 million hectares | -0.4% |
| 2011 | 4.92 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 2012 | 4.91 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 2013 | 4.89 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 2014 | 4.87 million hectares | -0.4% |
| 2015 | 4.85 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 2016 | 4.81 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 2017 | 4.78 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 2018 | 4.75 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 2019 | 4.71 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 2020 | 4.68 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 2021 | 4.66 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 2022 | 4.63 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 2023 | 4.61 million hectares | -0.6% |
Japan compared with similar countries
- Japan's 4.61 million hectares is above the median for high income countries, which is 982,000 hectares, 4.7× the median. (79 countries reporting)
- Japan's 4.61 million hectares is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 249,300 hectares, 18.5× the median. (36 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 6.94 million hectares | 6.65 million hectares | 7.12 million hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 6.37 million hectares | 6.18 million hectares | 6.70 million hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 6.02 million hectares | 5.88 million hectares | 6.15 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 5.59 million hectares | 5.32 million hectares | 5.83 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 5.10 million hectares | 4.97 million hectares | 5.26 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.84 million hectares | 4.71 million hectares | 4.95 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.65 million hectares | 4.61 million hectares | 4.68 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Japan
More agriculture & rural data for Japan
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 10.95 % change on previous year (2024)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0096 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 323.87 current US$ per person (2024)
- Rural population, annual growth rate -1.89 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.077 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 1.0% (2024)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 1.0% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.5% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.6% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is agricultural land use in Japan?
- Agricultural land use in Japan was 4.61 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 Japan?
- The highest recorded value was 7.12 million hectares in 1962.
- What is the lowest agricultural land use recorded in Japan?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.61 million hectares in 2023.
- How does Japan rank for agricultural land use?
- Japan ranks 94th out of 227 countries with data for 2023.
- Is agricultural land use rising or falling in Japan?
- Over the last ten years it is down 5.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Japan 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.