Agricultural land use in Sweden

Sweden: Agricultural land use was 2.98 million hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
2.98 million hectares
Change on year
down 0.4%
World rank
105th
of 226 countries
All-time high
4.24 million hectares
in 1961
All-time low
2.97 million hectares
in 2000
Years of data
63
1961–2023

Agricultural land use in Sweden, 1961–2023

01.0M2.0M3.0M4.0M196119922023

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.

Analysis

In 2023, agricultural land use in Sweden stood at 2.98 million hectares.

That represents a change of down 0.4% on the previous year and down 1.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, agricultural land use in Sweden peaked at 4.24 million hectares in 1961 and was at its lowest, 2.97 million hectares, in 2000.

That places Sweden 105th 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

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 3.91 million hectares 3.72 million hectares 4.24 million hectares 9
1970s 3.73 million hectares 3.71 million hectares 3.76 million hectares 10
1980s 3.56 million hectares 3.42 million hectares 3.70 million hectares 10
1990s 3.31 million hectares 3.19 million hectares 3.41 million hectares 10
2000s 3.11 million hectares 2.97 million hectares 3.20 million hectares 10
2010s 3.03 million hectares 3.00 million hectares 3.07 million hectares 10
2020s 3.00 million hectares 2.98 million hectares 3.01 million hectares 4

Countries ranked near Sweden

  1. 102 Czechia 3.53 million hectares compare
  2. 103 Serbia 3.40 million hectares compare
  3. 104 Sri Lanka 3.01 million hectares compare
  4. 106 Lithuania 2.87 million hectares compare
  5. 107 Dominican Republic 2.67 million hectares compare
  6. 108 Denmark 2.62 million hectares compare

See the full ranking of 228 places →

More agriculture & rural data for Sweden

All data for Sweden →

Frequently asked questions

What is agricultural land use in Sweden?
Agricultural land use in Sweden was 2.98 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 Sweden?
The highest recorded value was 4.24 million hectares in 1961.
What is the lowest agricultural land use recorded in Sweden?
The lowest recorded value was 2.97 million hectares in 2000.
How does Sweden rank for agricultural land use?
Sweden ranks 105th out of 226 countries with data for 2023.
Is agricultural land use rising or falling in Sweden?
Over the last ten years it is down 1.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Sweden 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

Indicator
Agricultural land use
Unit
hectares
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
228 places, 13,212 data points, 1961–2023
Last refreshed

Land used for cultivation of crops and animal husbandry. The total of areas under cropland and permanent meadows and pastures.