Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates: Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade was 3.2% in 2023. ◆ Volatile
Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in United Arab Emirates, 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 United Arab Emirates stood at 3.2%.
That represents a change of down 17.8% on the previous year and up 110.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in United Arab Emirates peaked at 115.9% in 1999 and was at its lowest, -33.4%, in 2012.
That places United Arab Emirates 45th 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 United Arab Emirates, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 1.9% | — |
| 1972 | 1.9% | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 2.4% | +25.0% |
| 1974 | 2.9% | +20.0% |
| 1975 | 2.9% | -0.5% |
| 1976 | 2.9% | -0.5% |
| 1977 | 3.3% | +16.7% |
| 1978 | 3.8% | +14.3% |
| 1979 | 4.3% | +12.5% |
| 1980 | 5.2% | +21.1% |
| 1981 | 7.1% | +36.4% |
| 1982 | 7.1% | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 8.9% | +26.1% |
| 1984 | 8.4% | -5.7% |
| 1985 | 9.3% | +10.6% |
| 1986 | 10.2% | +9.5% |
| 1987 | 9.7% | -5.0% |
| 1988 | 9.6% | -0.5% |
| 1989 | 9.1% | -5.2% |
| 1990 | 27.8% | +204.4% |
| 1991 | 36.6% | +31.5% |
| 1992 | 49.3% | +34.9% |
| 1993 | 53.0% | +7.5% |
| 1994 | 60.3% | +13.8% |
| 1995 | 63.0% | +4.4% |
| 1996 | 62.6% | -0.6% |
| 1997 | 66.0% | +5.4% |
| 1998 | 66.5% | +0.9% |
| 1999 | 115.9% | +74.2% |
| 2000 | 91.9% | -20.7% |
| 2001 | 81.3% | -11.6% |
| 2002 | 67.0% | -17.6% |
| 2003 | 56.1% | -16.3% |
| 2004 | 48.9% | -12.7% |
| 2005 | 45.4% | -7.1% |
| 2006 | 39.2% | -13.8% |
| 2007 | 34.8% | -11.1% |
| 2008 | 35.6% | +2.1% |
| 2009 | -24.8% | -169.8% |
| 2010 | -28.3% | +13.9% |
| 2011 | -30.9% | +9.2% |
| 2012 | -33.4% | +8.3% |
| 2013 | -31.5% | -5.8% |
| 2014 | -31.0% | -1.8% |
| 2015 | -31.3% | +1.0% |
| 2016 | -28.7% | -8.1% |
| 2017 | -27.9% | -2.8% |
| 2018 | -29.3% | +4.7% |
| 2019 | 0.6% | -102.2% |
| 2020 | -0.6% | -198.9% |
| 2021 | 0.8% | -223.7% |
| 2022 | 3.9% | +400.6% |
| 2023 | 3.2% | -17.8% |
United Arab Emirates compared with similar countries
- United Arab Emirates's 3.2% is above the median for high income countries, which is -0.5%. (79 countries reporting)
- United Arab Emirates's 3.2% 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 United Arab Emirates 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | +400.6% | 0.8% | 3.9% |
| 2021 | +223.7% | -0.6% | 0.8% |
| 1990 | +204.4% | 9.1% | 27.8% |
| 2020 | -198.9% | 0.6% | -0.6% |
| 2009 | -169.8% | 35.6% | -24.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2.9% | 1.9% | 4.3% | 9 |
| 1980s | 8.5% | 5.2% | 10.2% | 10 |
| 1990s | 60.1% | 27.8% | 115.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 47.5% | -24.8% | 91.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | -27.2% | -33.4% | 0.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.8% | -0.6% | 3.9% | 4 |
Countries ranked near United Arab Emirates
More agriculture & rural data for United Arab Emirates
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 6.43 % change on previous year (2024)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0077 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 386.83 current US$ per person (2024)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 3.73 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Rural population, per capita 0.1404 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 0.8% (2024)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 0.8% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.0% (2023)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.4% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in United Arab Emirates?
- Is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in United Arab Emirates was 3.2% 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 United Arab Emirates?
- The highest recorded value was 115.9% in 1999.
- What is the lowest is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade recorded in United Arab Emirates?
- The lowest recorded value was -33.4% in 2012.
- How does United Arab Emirates rank for is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade?
- United Arab Emirates ranks 45th out of 225 countries with data for 2023.
- Is is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade rising or falling in United Arab Emirates?
- Over the last ten years it is up 110.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this United Arab Emirates 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.