Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Nepal
Nepal: Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade was -7.7% in 2023. ◆ Volatile
Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Nepal, 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 Nepal stood at -7.7%.
The figure is up 8.3% on the previous year and down 90.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Nepal peaked at 14.1% in 1979 and was at its lowest, -8.6%, in 2021.
That places Nepal 200th out of 225 countries with data for 2023, putting it 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 Nepal, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 4.2% | — |
| 1972 | 7.6% | +80.5% |
| 1973 | 10.9% | +44.6% |
| 1974 | 12.4% | +13.4% |
| 1975 | 12.8% | +3.4% |
| 1976 | 13.3% | +3.5% |
| 1977 | 13.3% | -0.2% |
| 1978 | 13.7% | +3.2% |
| 1979 | 14.1% | +3.1% |
| 1980 | 10.3% | -26.6% |
| 1981 | 10.8% | +4.7% |
| 1982 | 7.4% | -31.3% |
| 1983 | 4.0% | -46.6% |
| 1984 | 3.0% | -24.6% |
| 1985 | 2.7% | -10.7% |
| 1986 | 2.7% | -0.8% |
| 1987 | 2.3% | -11.9% |
| 1988 | 2.1% | -12.4% |
| 1989 | 1.7% | -15.2% |
| 1990 | 1.5% | -16.4% |
| 1991 | 1.1% | -26.3% |
| 1992 | 1.3% | +17.2% |
| 1993 | 1.4% | +14.6% |
| 1994 | 1.6% | +12.7% |
| 1995 | 1.8% | +12.8% |
| 1996 | 1.7% | -6.2% |
| 1997 | 1.9% | +12.0% |
| 1998 | 2.1% | +9.5% |
| 1999 | 2.3% | +9.8% |
| 2000 | 2.5% | +9.2% |
| 2001 | 2.7% | +6.9% |
| 2002 | 2.0% | -26.3% |
| 2003 | 1.4% | -30.6% |
| 2004 | 0.9% | -35.2% |
| 2005 | 0.2% | -72.8% |
| 2006 | -0.4% | -276.0% |
| 2007 | -1.1% | +167.1% |
| 2008 | -1.7% | +51.9% |
| 2009 | -2.3% | +31.3% |
| 2010 | -2.9% | +27.1% |
| 2011 | -3.1% | +7.3% |
| 2012 | -3.6% | +16.3% |
| 2013 | -4.0% | +11.7% |
| 2014 | -4.3% | +5.7% |
| 2015 | -4.6% | +7.7% |
| 2016 | -5.0% | +8.9% |
| 2017 | -5.2% | +4.5% |
| 2018 | -6.9% | +31.3% |
| 2019 | -7.3% | +6.1% |
| 2020 | -7.9% | +8.7% |
| 2021 | -8.6% | +8.1% |
| 2022 | -8.4% | -2.0% |
| 2023 | -7.7% | -8.3% |
Nepal compared with similar countries
- Nepal's -7.7% is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 1.1%. (47 countries reporting)
- Nepal's -7.7% is below the median for South Asia, which is 0.4%. (6 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Nepal 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | -276.0% | 0.2% | -0.4% |
| 2007 | -167.1% | -0.4% | -1.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 11.4% | 4.2% | 14.1% | 9 |
| 1980s | 4.7% | 1.7% | 10.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.7% | 1.1% | 2.3% | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.4% | -2.3% | 2.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | -4.7% | -7.3% | -2.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | -8.1% | -8.6% | -7.7% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Nepal
More agriculture & rural data for Nepal
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 4.5 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.2156 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 331.1 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate -0.7937 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0002 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.33 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 21.6% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 21.6% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.6% (2022)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.3% (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Nepal?
- Is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Nepal was -7.7% 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 Nepal?
- The highest recorded value was 14.1% in 1979.
- What is the lowest is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade recorded in Nepal?
- The lowest recorded value was -8.6% in 2021.
- How does Nepal rank for is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade?
- Nepal ranks 200th out of 225 countries with data for 2023.
- Is is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade rising or falling in Nepal?
- Over the last ten years it is down 90.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Nepal 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.