Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in China
China: Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade was -0.9% in 2023. ◆ Volatile
Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in China, 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 China stood at -0.9%.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 13.4% on the previous year and down 965.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in China peaked at 18.9% in 1985 and was at its lowest, -1.4%, in 2019.
China ranks 154th of 225 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
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 China, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 10.8% | — |
| 1972 | 11.2% | +4.2% |
| 1973 | 11.9% | +6.2% |
| 1974 | 12.9% | +8.2% |
| 1975 | 13.0% | +0.7% |
| 1976 | 13.5% | +3.9% |
| 1977 | 14.0% | +3.7% |
| 1978 | 14.5% | +3.7% |
| 1979 | 14.3% | -1.3% |
| 1980 | 14.1% | -1.3% |
| 1981 | 14.1% | -0.0% |
| 1982 | 15.3% | +8.0% |
| 1983 | 16.3% | +6.6% |
| 1984 | 17.3% | +6.1% |
| 1985 | 18.9% | +9.2% |
| 1986 | 18.7% | -1.2% |
| 1987 | 18.2% | -2.2% |
| 1988 | 17.9% | -1.9% |
| 1989 | 18.1% | +1.0% |
| 1990 | 18.3% | +1.1% |
| 1991 | 18.1% | -0.7% |
| 1992 | 16.2% | -10.5% |
| 1993 | 14.4% | -11.1% |
| 1994 | 12.5% | -13.0% |
| 1995 | 9.8% | -22.2% |
| 1996 | 8.4% | -14.2% |
| 1997 | 7.2% | -14.1% |
| 1998 | 6.0% | -16.9% |
| 1999 | 4.7% | -21.7% |
| 2000 | 3.4% | -27.4% |
| 2001 | 2.4% | -30.4% |
| 2002 | 1.9% | -19.8% |
| 2003 | 1.2% | -34.5% |
| 2004 | 0.5% | -62.8% |
| 2005 | 0.6% | +24.6% |
| 2006 | 0.7% | +18.4% |
| 2007 | 0.8% | +16.7% |
| 2008 | 0.9% | +14.3% |
| 2009 | 1.0% | +12.5% |
| 2010 | 0.9% | -14.1% |
| 2011 | 0.6% | -29.3% |
| 2012 | 0.4% | -41.5% |
| 2013 | 0.1% | -70.9% |
| 2014 | -0.2% | -242.9% |
| 2015 | -0.4% | +169.6% |
| 2016 | -0.7% | +62.7% |
| 2017 | -0.9% | +38.5% |
| 2018 | -1.2% | +27.7% |
| 2019 | -1.4% | +21.7% |
| 2020 | -1.3% | -8.7% |
| 2021 | -1.2% | -9.4% |
| 2022 | -1.1% | -10.5% |
| 2023 | -0.9% | -13.4% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in China 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | -242.9% | 0.1% | -0.2% |
| 2015 | -169.6% | -0.2% | -0.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 12.9% | 10.8% | 14.5% | 9 |
| 1980s | 16.9% | 14.1% | 18.9% | 10 |
| 1990s | 11.6% | 4.7% | 18.3% | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.3% | 0.5% | 3.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | -0.3% | -1.4% | 0.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | -1.1% | -1.3% | -0.9% | 4 |
Countries ranked near China
More agriculture & rural data for China
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 1.98 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0666 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 923.03 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate -1.48 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.3366 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 6.7% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 6.7% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.3% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.7% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in China?
- Is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in China was -0.9% 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 China?
- The highest recorded value was 18.9% in 1985.
- What is the lowest is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was -1.4% in 2019.
- How does China rank for is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade?
- China ranks 154th out of 225 countries with data for 2023.
- Is is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is down 965.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this China 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.