Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo: Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade was 11.7% in 2023. ◆ Volatile
Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Democratic Republic of Congo, 1971–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Democratic Republic of Congo recorded 11.7% for is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 5.4% on the previous year and down 49.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 30.8% in 2018 and was at its lowest, -1.7%, in 2002.
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 14th of 225 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
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 Democratic Republic of Congo, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 1.4% | — |
| 1972 | 1.5% | +8.5% |
| 1973 | 1.6% | +5.1% |
| 1974 | 1.7% | +4.9% |
| 1975 | 1.6% | -4.8% |
| 1976 | 1.7% | +7.4% |
| 1977 | 1.7% | -0.1% |
| 1978 | 1.6% | -7.2% |
| 1979 | 1.4% | -12.7% |
| 1980 | 1.4% | -0.2% |
| 1981 | 1.4% | -0.2% |
| 1982 | 1.3% | -8.8% |
| 1983 | 1.2% | -6.4% |
| 1984 | 1.2% | -0.2% |
| 1985 | 1.4% | +16.7% |
| 1986 | 1.4% | -0.2% |
| 1987 | 1.2% | -8.7% |
| 1988 | 1.2% | -6.3% |
| 1989 | 1.2% | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 1.0% | -13.5% |
| 1991 | 0.9% | -11.7% |
| 1992 | 0.9% | -0.1% |
| 1993 | 0.8% | -13.1% |
| 1994 | 0.6% | -25.1% |
| 1995 | -0.4% | -166.5% |
| 1996 | -0.6% | +49.7% |
| 1997 | -1.0% | +66.7% |
| 1998 | -1.0% | -0.0% |
| 1999 | -1.3% | +40.0% |
| 2000 | -1.4% | +2.8% |
| 2001 | -1.7% | +19.4% |
| 2002 | -1.7% | +4.6% |
| 2003 | -1.7% | -0.0% |
| 2004 | -1.7% | -0.0% |
| 2005 | -1.0% | -44.0% |
| 2006 | -0.8% | -14.4% |
| 2007 | -0.2% | -76.5% |
| 2008 | 0.0% | -100.0% |
| 2009 | 5.0% | — |
| 2010 | 11.1% | +119.8% |
| 2011 | 16.0% | +44.7% |
| 2012 | 20.9% | +30.6% |
| 2013 | 23.0% | +10.2% |
| 2014 | 26.2% | +13.9% |
| 2015 | 27.0% | +3.0% |
| 2016 | 27.7% | +2.6% |
| 2017 | 29.8% | +7.5% |
| 2018 | 30.8% | +3.4% |
| 2019 | 25.8% | -16.1% |
| 2020 | 19.2% | -25.9% |
| 2021 | 14.3% | -25.3% |
| 2022 | 12.3% | -13.9% |
| 2023 | 11.7% | -5.4% |
Democratic Republic of Congo compared with similar countries
- Democratic Republic of Congo's 11.7% is above the median for low income countries, which is 0.6%, 19.4× the median. (23 countries reporting)
- Democratic Republic of Congo's 11.7% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.9%, 12.9× the median. (46 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Democratic Republic of Congo 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | -166.5% | 0.6% | -0.4% |
| 2010 | +119.8% | 5.0% | 11.1% |
| 2008 | +100.0% | -0.2% | 0.0% |
| 2007 | +76.5% | -0.8% | -0.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1.6% | 1.4% | 1.7% | 9 |
| 1980s | 1.3% | 1.2% | 1.4% | 10 |
| 1990s | -0.0% | -1.3% | 1.0% | 10 |
| 2000s | -0.5% | -1.7% | 5.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 23.8% | 11.1% | 30.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 14.4% | 11.7% | 19.2% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo
- 11 Belize 13.8% compare
- 12 Vietnam 13.3% compare
- 13 Turkmenistan 12.1% compare
- 15 American Samoa 11.3% compare
- 16 Solomon Islands 11.1% compare
- 17 Burkina Faso 11.0% compare
More agriculture & rural data for Democratic Republic of Congo
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 6.48 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0893 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 72.04 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 2.57 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0007 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.5489 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 8.9% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 8.9% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.3% (2023)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.6% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Democratic Republic of Congo was 11.7% 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 Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The highest recorded value was 30.8% in 2018.
- What is the lowest is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was -1.7% in 2002.
- How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade?
- Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 14th out of 225 countries with data for 2023.
- Is is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Over the last ten years it is down 49.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo 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.
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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.