Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Tanzania
Tanzania: Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade was 3.9% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Tanzania, 1971–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Tanzania recorded 3.9% for is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in 2023.
The figure is down 27.6% on the previous year and down 64.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Tanzania peaked at 11.5% in 1971 and was at its lowest, 1.8%, in 1991.
That places Tanzania 41st out of 225 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 53 years of available data.
Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Tanzania, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 11.5% | — |
| 1972 | 11.5% | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 7.4% | -35.8% |
| 1974 | 7.4% | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 7.4% | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 7.4% | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 7.4% | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 11.1% | +50.0% |
| 1979 | 11.1% | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 7.1% | -35.7% |
| 1981 | 6.9% | -3.4% |
| 1982 | 6.9% | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 6.9% | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 6.9% | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 10.3% | +50.0% |
| 1986 | 10.3% | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 10.3% | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 6.7% | -35.6% |
| 1989 | 6.7% | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 4.0% | -40.5% |
| 1991 | 1.8% | -54.3% |
| 1992 | 3.0% | +66.2% |
| 1993 | 4.2% | +39.8% |
| 1994 | 5.4% | +28.5% |
| 1995 | 3.3% | -39.4% |
| 1996 | 4.4% | +35.4% |
| 1997 | 5.3% | +19.8% |
| 1998 | 5.6% | +5.7% |
| 1999 | 5.9% | +5.6% |
| 2000 | 9.0% | +51.7% |
| 2001 | 8.0% | -10.7% |
| 2002 | 7.1% | -11.8% |
| 2003 | 6.1% | -14.3% |
| 2004 | 6.4% | +4.7% |
| 2005 | 6.9% | +7.7% |
| 2006 | 7.3% | +7.0% |
| 2007 | 8.1% | +9.9% |
| 2008 | 9.4% | +16.6% |
| 2009 | 9.7% | +3.2% |
| 2010 | 10.0% | +3.1% |
| 2011 | 10.3% | +3.0% |
| 2012 | 9.6% | -6.4% |
| 2013 | 11.0% | +14.0% |
| 2014 | 10.0% | -8.6% |
| 2015 | 8.9% | -11.3% |
| 2016 | 7.8% | -12.3% |
| 2017 | 6.8% | -13.3% |
| 2018 | 5.7% | -15.2% |
| 2019 | 5.7% | -0.6% |
| 2020 | 5.7% | -0.6% |
| 2021 | 5.1% | -10.5% |
| 2022 | 5.4% | +6.3% |
| 2023 | 3.9% | -27.6% |
Tanzania compared with similar countries
- Tanzania's 3.9% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 1.1%, 3.5× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Tanzania's 3.9% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.9%, 4.3× the median. (46 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 9.1% | 7.4% | 11.5% | 9 |
| 1980s | 7.9% | 6.7% | 10.3% | 10 |
| 1990s | 4.3% | 1.8% | 5.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 7.8% | 6.1% | 9.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.6% | 5.7% | 11.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.0% | 3.9% | 5.7% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Tanzania
More agriculture & rural data for Tanzania
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 11.77 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.2291 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 292.74 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 1.74 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0005 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.6312 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 2.5% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.1% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Tanzania?
- Is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Tanzania was 3.9% 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 Tanzania?
- The highest recorded value was 11.5% in 1971.
- What is the lowest is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade recorded in Tanzania?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.8% in 1991.
- How does Tanzania rank for is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade?
- Tanzania ranks 41st out of 225 countries with data for 2023.
- Is is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade rising or falling in Tanzania?
- Over the last ten years it is down 64.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Tanzania 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.