Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Benin
Benin: Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade was 18.5% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Benin, 1971–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Benin recorded 18.5% for is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in 2023.
The figure is down 36.1% on the previous year and up 26.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Benin peaked at 49.2% in 2003 and was at its lowest, 9.3%, in 2010.
Benin ranks 6th of 225 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 53 years of available data.
Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Benin, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 24.1% | — |
| 1972 | 24.5% | +1.6% |
| 1973 | 24.0% | -1.8% |
| 1974 | 24.4% | +1.3% |
| 1975 | 25.2% | +3.5% |
| 1976 | 24.5% | -2.9% |
| 1977 | 23.1% | -5.5% |
| 1978 | 22.1% | -4.5% |
| 1979 | 17.1% | -22.5% |
| 1980 | 17.4% | +1.9% |
| 1981 | 15.9% | -8.8% |
| 1982 | 16.2% | +1.6% |
| 1983 | 14.8% | -8.1% |
| 1984 | 14.2% | -4.4% |
| 1985 | 13.5% | -4.8% |
| 1986 | 15.1% | +11.7% |
| 1987 | 13.6% | -9.7% |
| 1988 | 12.9% | -5.2% |
| 1989 | 11.8% | -8.9% |
| 1990 | 12.8% | +8.9% |
| 1991 | 11.5% | -10.5% |
| 1992 | 10.4% | -9.8% |
| 1993 | 12.2% | +17.4% |
| 1994 | 14.1% | +15.7% |
| 1995 | 18.3% | +30.1% |
| 1996 | 23.7% | +29.8% |
| 1997 | 31.6% | +33.1% |
| 1998 | 37.8% | +19.7% |
| 1999 | 40.8% | +7.9% |
| 2000 | 41.2% | +0.8% |
| 2001 | 43.7% | +6.2% |
| 2002 | 47.0% | +7.6% |
| 2003 | 49.2% | +4.7% |
| 2004 | 44.9% | -8.8% |
| 2005 | 38.1% | -15.1% |
| 2006 | 23.5% | -38.5% |
| 2007 | 16.9% | -27.8% |
| 2008 | 17.9% | +5.5% |
| 2009 | 20.4% | +14.4% |
| 2010 | 9.3% | -54.7% |
| 2011 | 11.0% | +19.3% |
| 2012 | 11.8% | +7.0% |
| 2013 | 14.7% | +24.2% |
| 2014 | 15.6% | +6.1% |
| 2015 | 17.3% | +10.9% |
| 2016 | 16.1% | -6.8% |
| 2017 | 21.1% | +31.3% |
| 2018 | 24.5% | +15.8% |
| 2019 | 23.8% | -2.7% |
| 2020 | 27.1% | +13.9% |
| 2021 | 27.7% | +2.3% |
| 2022 | 29.0% | +4.4% |
| 2023 | 18.5% | -36.1% |
Benin compared with similar countries
- Benin's 18.5% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 1.1%, 16.4× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Benin's 18.5% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.9%, 20.5× the median. (46 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 23.2% | 17.1% | 25.2% | 9 |
| 1980s | 14.5% | 11.8% | 17.4% | 10 |
| 1990s | 21.3% | 10.4% | 40.8% | 10 |
| 2000s | 34.3% | 16.9% | 49.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 16.5% | 9.3% | 24.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 25.6% | 18.5% | 29.0% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Benin
- 3 Sao Tome and Principe 22.9% compare
- 4 Cote d'Ivoire 22.0% compare
- 5 Cyprus 18.5% compare
- 7 Montenegro 18.1% compare
- 8 Central African Republic 15.7% compare
- 9 Guinea 15.0% compare
More agriculture & rural data for Benin
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 8.16 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.2292 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 380.06 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 0.6697 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0003 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.4664 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 22.9% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 22.9% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 52.9% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.8% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Benin?
- Is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Benin was 18.5% 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 Benin?
- The highest recorded value was 49.2% in 2003.
- What is the lowest is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade recorded in Benin?
- The lowest recorded value was 9.3% in 2010.
- How does Benin rank for is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade?
- Benin ranks 6th out of 225 countries with data for 2023.
- Is is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade rising or falling in Benin?
- Over the last ten years it is up 26.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Benin 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
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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.