Agricultural land use in Zambia
Zambia: Agricultural land use was 23.84 million hectares in 2023. ▲ Rising
Latest (2023)
23.84 million hectares
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
48th
of 227 countries
All-time high
23.84 million hectares
in 2017
All-time low
19.31 million hectares
in 1961
Years of data
63
1961–2023
Agricultural land use in Zambia, 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 Zambia is 23.84 million hectares, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 63 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, agricultural land use in Zambia peaked at 23.84 million hectares in 2017 and was at its lowest, 19.31 million hectares, in 1961.
Zambia ranks 48th 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 Zambia, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 19.31 million hectares | — |
| 1962 | 19.36 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 1963 | 19.40 million hectares | +0.2% |
| 1964 | 19.46 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 1965 | 19.51 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 1966 | 19.61 million hectares | +0.5% |
| 1967 | 19.66 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 1968 | 19.73 million hectares | +0.4% |
| 1969 | 19.80 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 1970 | 19.87 million hectares | +0.4% |
| 1971 | 20.05 million hectares | +0.9% |
| 1972 | 20.09 million hectares | +0.2% |
| 1973 | 20.14 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 1974 | 20.20 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 1975 | 20.24 million hectares | +0.2% |
| 1976 | 20.27 million hectares | +0.1% |
| 1977 | 20.27 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 20.16 million hectares | -0.6% |
| 1979 | 19.78 million hectares | -1.9% |
| 1980 | 19.85 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 1981 | 19.95 million hectares | +0.5% |
| 1982 | 20.04 million hectares | +0.4% |
| 1983 | 20.14 million hectares | +0.5% |
| 1984 | 20.22 million hectares | +0.4% |
| 1985 | 20.33 million hectares | +0.5% |
| 1986 | 20.42 million hectares | +0.5% |
| 1987 | 20.52 million hectares | +0.5% |
| 1988 | 20.62 million hectares | +0.5% |
| 1989 | 20.76 million hectares | +0.7% |
| 1990 | 20.81 million hectares | +0.2% |
| 1991 | 20.83 million hectares | +0.1% |
| 1992 | 21.07 million hectares | +1.1% |
| 1993 | 21.20 million hectares | +0.7% |
| 1994 | 21.47 million hectares | +1.3% |
| 1995 | 21.65 million hectares | +0.8% |
| 1996 | 21.83 million hectares | +0.8% |
| 1997 | 22.01 million hectares | +0.8% |
| 1998 | 22.17 million hectares | +0.8% |
| 1999 | 22.35 million hectares | +0.8% |
| 2000 | 22.53 million hectares | +0.8% |
| 2001 | 22.55 million hectares | +0.1% |
| 2002 | 22.62 million hectares | +0.3% |
| 2003 | 22.91 million hectares | +1.3% |
| 2004 | 22.90 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2005 | 22.76 million hectares | -0.6% |
| 2006 | 23.05 million hectares | +1.3% |
| 2007 | 22.98 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 2008 | 23.09 million hectares | +0.4% |
| 2009 | 23.59 million hectares | +2.2% |
| 2010 | 23.44 million hectares | -0.6% |
| 2011 | 23.64 million hectares | +0.9% |
| 2012 | 23.84 million hectares | +0.8% |
| 2013 | 23.74 million hectares | -0.4% |
| 2014 | 23.74 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 23.74 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 23.74 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 23.84 million hectares | +0.4% |
| 2018 | 23.84 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 23.84 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 23.84 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 23.84 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 23.84 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 23.84 million hectares | +0.0% |
Zambia compared with similar countries
- Zambia's 23.84 million hectares is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 9.40 million hectares, 2.5× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Zambia's 23.84 million hectares is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 13.51 million hectares, 1.8× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 19.54 million hectares | 19.31 million hectares | 19.80 million hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 20.11 million hectares | 19.78 million hectares | 20.27 million hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 20.28 million hectares | 19.85 million hectares | 20.76 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 21.54 million hectares | 20.81 million hectares | 22.35 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 22.90 million hectares | 22.53 million hectares | 23.59 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 23.74 million hectares | 23.44 million hectares | 23.84 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 23.84 million hectares | 23.84 million hectares | 23.84 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Zambia
More agriculture & rural data for Zambia
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 65.37 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0411 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 54.11 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 1.97 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0004 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.5408 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 4.1% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 4.1% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.4% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.7% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is agricultural land use in Zambia?
- Agricultural land use in Zambia was 23.84 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 Zambia?
- The highest recorded value was 23.84 million hectares in 2017.
- What is the lowest agricultural land use recorded in Zambia?
- The lowest recorded value was 19.31 million hectares in 1961.
- How does Zambia rank for agricultural land use?
- Zambia ranks 48th out of 227 countries with data for 2023.
- Is agricultural land use rising or falling in Zambia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Zambia 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.