Agricultural land use in South Korea
South Korea: Agricultural land use was 1.57 million hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling
Agricultural land use in South Korea, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
The most recent figure for agricultural land use in South Korea is 1.57 million hectares, measured in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 63 years on record.
That represents a change of down 1.0% on the previous year and down 11.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, agricultural land use in South Korea peaked at 2.34 million hectares in 1968 and was at its lowest, 1.57 million hectares, in 2023.
That places South Korea 129th out of 226 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.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 2.23 million hectares | 2.08 million hectares | 2.34 million hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 2.28 million hectares | 2.25 million hectares | 2.32 million hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 2.23 million hectares | 2.20 million hectares | 2.25 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 2.07 million hectares | 1.95 million hectares | 2.18 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.88 million hectares | 1.79 million hectares | 1.97 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.72 million hectares | 1.64 million hectares | 1.79 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.59 million hectares | 1.57 million hectares | 1.62 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More agriculture & rural data for South Korea
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 27.42 billion current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 1.5% (2025)
- Rural population 9.73 million (2025)
- Rural population growth -0.2% (2025)
- Rural population 18.8% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.9% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.8% (2024)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 1.5% (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 1.5% (2025)
- Land under cereal production 776,099 hectares (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is agricultural land use in South Korea?
- Agricultural land use in South Korea was 1.57 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 South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 2.34 million hectares in 1968.
- What is the lowest agricultural land use recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.57 million hectares in 2023.
- How does South Korea rank for agricultural land use?
- South Korea ranks 129th out of 226 countries with data for 2023.
- Is agricultural land use rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 11.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Korea 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.