Agricultural land use in Malawi
Malawi: Agricultural land use was 6.05 million hectares in 2023. ▲ Rising
Agricultural land use in Malawi, 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 Malawi is 6.05 million hectares, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 63 years on record.
The figure is up 9.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, agricultural land use in Malawi peaked at 6.05 million hectares in 2021 and was at its lowest, 3.20 million hectares, in 1961.
Malawi ranks 82nd of 226 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 3.51 million hectares | 3.20 million hectares | 3.76 million hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 3.91 million hectares | 3.71 million hectares | 3.97 million hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 4.02 million hectares | 3.83 million hectares | 4.17 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 4.35 million hectares | 4.07 million hectares | 4.68 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 5.10 million hectares | 4.73 million hectares | 5.49 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.67 million hectares | 5.49 million hectares | 5.93 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.03 million hectares | 5.98 million hectares | 6.05 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More agriculture & rural data for Malawi
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 4.48 billion current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 30.0% (2025)
- Rural population 18.31 million (2025)
- Rural population growth 2.2% (2025)
- Rural population 82.4% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.7% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.9% (2024)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 30.0% (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 30.0% (2025)
- Land under cereal production 2.04 million hectares (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is agricultural land use in Malawi?
- Agricultural land use in Malawi was 6.05 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 Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 6.05 million hectares in 2021.
- What is the lowest agricultural land use recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.20 million hectares in 1961.
- How does Malawi rank for agricultural land use?
- Malawi ranks 82nd out of 226 countries with data for 2023.
- Is agricultural land use rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malawi 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.