Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Egypt
Egypt: Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade was 8.8% in 2023. ◆ Volatile
Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Egypt, 1971–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Egypt is 8.8%, measured in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 10.5% on the previous year and down 7.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Egypt peaked at 35.5% in 1999 and was at its lowest, -14.7%, in 1983.
That places Egypt 26th out of 225 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 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 Egypt, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 11.1% | — |
| 1972 | 14.0% | +26.3% |
| 1973 | 14.7% | +4.9% |
| 1974 | 13.4% | -8.3% |
| 1975 | 5.7% | -57.4% |
| 1976 | -1.8% | -131.4% |
| 1977 | -5.9% | +229.5% |
| 1978 | -9.3% | +57.2% |
| 1979 | -13.7% | +46.9% |
| 1980 | -14.0% | +2.3% |
| 1981 | -13.5% | -3.8% |
| 1982 | -14.4% | +6.6% |
| 1983 | -14.7% | +2.6% |
| 1984 | -13.5% | -8.1% |
| 1985 | -11.6% | -14.2% |
| 1986 | -6.0% | -48.6% |
| 1987 | -3.3% | -44.1% |
| 1988 | 1.6% | -148.3% |
| 1989 | 5.1% | +213.9% |
| 1990 | 8.3% | +63.8% |
| 1991 | 7.1% | -14.6% |
| 1992 | 22.5% | +217.8% |
| 1993 | 23.8% | +5.8% |
| 1994 | 22.6% | -5.4% |
| 1995 | 31.5% | +39.6% |
| 1996 | 23.7% | -24.6% |
| 1997 | 27.4% | +15.4% |
| 1998 | 26.3% | -4.0% |
| 1999 | 35.5% | +34.9% |
| 2000 | 24.3% | -31.5% |
| 2001 | 26.3% | +8.3% |
| 2002 | 14.3% | -45.7% |
| 2003 | 13.1% | -8.5% |
| 2004 | 15.4% | +18.3% |
| 2005 | 7.3% | -52.7% |
| 2006 | 11.2% | +53.5% |
| 2007 | 9.0% | -19.5% |
| 2008 | 8.7% | -4.1% |
| 2009 | 5.9% | -31.7% |
| 2010 | 11.5% | +95.2% |
| 2011 | 8.4% | -26.8% |
| 2012 | 7.9% | -6.0% |
| 2013 | 9.4% | +18.9% |
| 2014 | 6.8% | -27.8% |
| 2015 | 7.6% | +11.1% |
| 2016 | 5.7% | -25.0% |
| 2017 | 8.5% | +48.7% |
| 2018 | 9.1% | +7.2% |
| 2019 | 6.3% | -30.3% |
| 2020 | 8.2% | +29.4% |
| 2021 | 11.4% | +38.9% |
| 2022 | 9.8% | -13.7% |
| 2023 | 8.8% | -10.5% |
Egypt compared with similar countries
- Egypt's 8.8% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 1.1%, 7.8× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Egypt's 8.8% is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is -0.0%. (23 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Egypt 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | -229.5% | -1.8% | -5.9% |
| 1992 | +217.8% | 7.1% | 22.5% |
| 1989 | +213.9% | 1.6% | 5.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 3.1% | -13.7% | 14.7% | 9 |
| 1980s | -8.4% | -14.7% | 5.1% | 10 |
| 1990s | 22.9% | 7.1% | 35.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 13.6% | 5.9% | 26.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.1% | 5.7% | 11.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 9.5% | 8.2% | 11.4% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Egypt
More agriculture & rural data for Egypt
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 13.32 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.1655 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 510.76 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 1.38 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0002 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.571 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 16.6% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 16.6% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.1% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.1% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Egypt?
- Is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Egypt was 8.8% 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 Egypt?
- The highest recorded value was 35.5% in 1999.
- What is the lowest is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade recorded in Egypt?
- The lowest recorded value was -14.7% in 1983.
- How does Egypt rank for is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade?
- Egypt ranks 26th out of 225 countries with data for 2023.
- Is is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade rising or falling in Egypt?
- Over the last ten years it is down 7.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Egypt 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.