Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Australia
Australia: Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade was -2.3% in 2023. ◆ Volatile
Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Australia, 1971–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2023, is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Australia stood at -2.3%.
The figure is up 62.3% on the previous year and up 85.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Australia peaked at 5.3% in 1971 and was at its lowest, -17.4%, in 2010.
Australia ranks 172nd of 225 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Australia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 5.3% | — |
| 1972 | 4.9% | -7.7% |
| 1973 | 3.9% | -20.7% |
| 1974 | 3.8% | -0.9% |
| 1975 | 2.7% | -28.6% |
| 1976 | 2.8% | +3.0% |
| 1977 | 0.4% | -86.0% |
| 1978 | -3.4% | -963.1% |
| 1979 | -3.5% | +1.6% |
| 1980 | 0.4% | -112.9% |
| 1981 | -0.8% | -277.9% |
| 1982 | -1.8% | +127.6% |
| 1983 | -2.8% | +56.6% |
| 1984 | -2.8% | -2.7% |
| 1985 | -2.6% | -7.4% |
| 1986 | -6.4% | +151.8% |
| 1987 | -4.2% | -35.2% |
| 1988 | -4.8% | +16.3% |
| 1989 | -5.3% | +9.3% |
| 1990 | -6.3% | +18.8% |
| 1991 | -6.6% | +5.1% |
| 1992 | -5.0% | -23.7% |
| 1993 | -4.9% | -3.0% |
| 1994 | -3.6% | -26.9% |
| 1995 | -4.8% | +34.3% |
| 1996 | -0.7% | -85.3% |
| 1997 | -1.9% | +164.0% |
| 1998 | -1.7% | -7.2% |
| 1999 | -2.9% | +65.9% |
| 2000 | -1.9% | -32.7% |
| 2001 | -1.5% | -20.7% |
| 2002 | -4.1% | +166.5% |
| 2003 | -4.5% | +9.8% |
| 2004 | -15.8% | +253.5% |
| 2005 | -11.5% | -27.5% |
| 2006 | -12.0% | +4.8% |
| 2007 | -13.8% | +15.0% |
| 2008 | -16.1% | +16.4% |
| 2009 | -15.3% | -4.8% |
| 2010 | -17.4% | +13.5% |
| 2011 | -13.1% | -24.7% |
| 2012 | -13.4% | +2.5% |
| 2013 | -15.4% | +14.9% |
| 2014 | -5.2% | -66.3% |
| 2015 | -15.1% | +191.9% |
| 2016 | -16.3% | +7.6% |
| 2017 | -6.7% | -59.1% |
| 2018 | -7.8% | +17.3% |
| 2019 | -5.7% | -27.4% |
| 2020 | -5.5% | -3.5% |
| 2021 | -8.2% | +50.4% |
| 2022 | -6.1% | -26.1% |
| 2023 | -2.3% | -62.3% |
Australia compared with similar countries
- Australia's -2.3% is below the median for high income countries, which is -0.5%, 4.4× the median. (79 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Australia changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | -963.1% | 0.4% | -3.4% |
| 1981 | -277.9% | 0.4% | -0.8% |
| 2004 | -253.5% | -4.5% | -15.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1.9% | -3.5% | 5.3% | 9 |
| 1980s | -3.1% | -6.4% | 0.4% | 10 |
| 1990s | -3.8% | -6.6% | -0.7% | 10 |
| 2000s | -9.7% | -16.1% | -1.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | -11.6% | -17.4% | -5.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | -5.5% | -8.2% | -2.3% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More agriculture & rural data for Australia
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 13.97 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0227 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 1,476 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 0.5855 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.1228 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 2.3% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 2.3% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.7% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.5% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Australia?
- Is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Australia was -2.3% 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 is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 5.3% in 1971.
- What is the lowest is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was -17.4% in 2010.
- How does Australia rank for is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade?
- Australia ranks 172nd out of 225 countries with data for 2023.
- Is is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 85.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Australia 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 Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 53 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage change in surface area devoted to agriculture with respect to 10 years before. Negative values imply that surface area has decreased with respect to the previous decade. This data is used to assess which countries may have already peaked in their agricultural land use.