Agricultural land use in Kenya
Kenya: Agricultural land use was 28.77 million hectares in 2023. ▲ Rising
Latest (2023)
28.77 million hectares
Change on year
up 0.1%
World rank
40th
of 227 countries
All-time high
28.77 million hectares
in 2023
All-time low
25.03 million hectares
in 1961
Years of data
63
1961–2023
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 40th of 227 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.
Agricultural land use in Kenya, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 25.03 million hectares | — |
| 1962 | 25.04 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 25.04 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 25.05 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 25.06 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 25.07 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1967 | 25.08 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 25.08 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 25.09 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 25.10 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1971 | 25.11 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 25.12 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 25.13 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 25.13 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 25.57 million hectares | +1.7% |
| 1976 | 25.58 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 25.58 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 25.46 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 1979 | 25.47 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 25.47 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 25.48 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 25.49 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 25.50 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 25.43 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 1985 | 26.29 million hectares | +3.4% |
| 1986 | 26.32 million hectares | +0.1% |
| 1987 | 26.39 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 1988 | 26.62 million hectares | +0.9% |
| 1989 | 27.02 million hectares | +1.5% |
| 1990 | 26.75 million hectares | -1.0% |
| 1991 | 26.86 million hectares | +0.4% |
| 1992 | 27.07 million hectares | +0.8% |
| 1993 | 26.84 million hectares | -0.8% |
| 1994 | 27.24 million hectares | +1.5% |
| 1995 | 27.24 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 1996 | 26.48 million hectares | -2.8% |
| 1997 | 26.63 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 1998 | 26.50 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 1999 | 26.93 million hectares | +1.6% |
| 2000 | 26.73 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 2001 | 26.84 million hectares | +0.4% |
| 2002 | 26.82 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2003 | 26.87 million hectares | +0.2% |
| 2004 | 26.99 million hectares | +0.4% |
| 2005 | 27.00 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 27.05 million hectares | +0.2% |
| 2007 | 27.07 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 27.09 million hectares | +0.1% |
| 2009 | 27.31 million hectares | +0.8% |
| 2010 | 27.39 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 2011 | 27.93 million hectares | +2.0% |
| 2012 | 28.27 million hectares | +1.2% |
| 2013 | 28.34 million hectares | +0.2% |
| 2014 | 28.31 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2015 | 28.30 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 2016 | 28.46 million hectares | +0.5% |
| 2017 | 28.13 million hectares | -1.1% |
| 2018 | 28.59 million hectares | +1.6% |
| 2019 | 28.67 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 28.69 million hectares | +0.1% |
| 2021 | 28.70 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 28.74 million hectares | +0.2% |
| 2023 | 28.77 million hectares | +0.1% |
Kenya compared with similar countries
- Kenya's 28.77 million hectares is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 9.40 million hectares, 3.1× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Kenya's 28.77 million hectares is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 13.51 million hectares, 2.1× the median. (48 countries reporting)
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
- 37 Pakistan 35.99 million hectares compare
- 38 Democratic Republic of Congo 35.10 million hectares compare
- 39 Morocco 29.79 million hectares compare
- 41 South Sudan 28.35 million hectares compare
- 42 France 28.30 million hectares compare
- 43 Cote d'Ivoire 27.50 million hectares compare
More agriculture & rural data for Kenya
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 16.52 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.2316 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 547.24 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 1.47 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0003 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.6779 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 23.2% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 23.2% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 12.9% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.0% (2024)
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 40th out of 227 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.