Agricultural land use in Kenya
Kenya: Agricultural land use was 28.77 million hectares in 2023. ▲ Rising
Agricultural land use in Kenya, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
Kenya recorded 28.77 million hectares for agricultural land use in 2023. That is the highest value across all 63 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.1% on the previous year and up 1.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, agricultural land use in Kenya peaked at 28.77 million hectares in 2023 and was at its lowest, 25.03 million hectares, in 1961.
Kenya ranks 39th of 226 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 25.06 million hectares | 25.03 million hectares | 25.09 million hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 25.32 million hectares | 25.10 million hectares | 25.58 million hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 26.00 million hectares | 25.43 million hectares | 27.02 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 26.85 million hectares | 26.48 million hectares | 27.24 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 26.98 million hectares | 26.73 million hectares | 27.31 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 28.24 million hectares | 27.39 million hectares | 28.67 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 28.72 million hectares | 28.69 million hectares | 28.77 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Kenya
- 36 Pakistan 35.99 million hectares compare
- 37 Democratic Republic of Congo 35.10 million hectares compare
- 38 Morocco 29.79 million hectares compare
- 40 South Sudan 28.35 million hectares compare
- 41 France 28.30 million hectares compare
- 42 Cote d'Ivoire 27.50 million hectares compare
More agriculture & rural data for Kenya
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 31.48 billion current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 23.2% (2025)
- Rural population 39.00 million (2025)
- Rural population growth 1.5% (2025)
- Rural population 67.8% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.0% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 12.9% (2024)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 23.2% (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 23.2% (2025)
- Land under cereal production 2.93 million hectares (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is agricultural land use in Kenya?
- Agricultural land use in Kenya was 28.77 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 Kenya?
- The highest recorded value was 28.77 million hectares in 2023.
- What is the lowest agricultural land use recorded in Kenya?
- The lowest recorded value was 25.03 million hectares in 1961.
- How does Kenya rank for agricultural land use?
- Kenya ranks 39th out of 226 countries with data for 2023.
- Is agricultural land use rising or falling in Kenya?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Kenya 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.