Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Zambia
Zambia: Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade was 0.4% in 2023. ◆ Volatile
Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Zambia, 1971–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Zambia recorded 0.4% for is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 3,314.2% on the previous year and down 88.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Zambia peaked at 8.3% in 2001 and was at its lowest, -0.5%, in 1981.
Zambia ranks 73rd of 225 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
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 Zambia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 3.9% | — |
| 1972 | 3.8% | -2.0% |
| 1973 | 3.8% | +0.7% |
| 1974 | 3.8% | +0.1% |
| 1975 | 3.7% | -2.8% |
| 1976 | 3.4% | -9.6% |
| 1977 | 3.1% | -7.1% |
| 1978 | 2.1% | -31.7% |
| 1979 | -0.1% | -105.7% |
| 1980 | -0.1% | +16.3% |
| 1981 | -0.5% | +254.0% |
| 1982 | -0.3% | -46.1% |
| 1983 | -0.0% | -85.2% |
| 1984 | 0.1% | -349.3% |
| 1985 | 0.5% | +359.2% |
| 1986 | 0.8% | +72.6% |
| 1987 | 1.2% | +55.3% |
| 1988 | 2.3% | +88.1% |
| 1989 | 5.0% | +116.1% |
| 1990 | 4.9% | -1.9% |
| 1991 | 4.4% | -10.0% |
| 1992 | 5.1% | +17.0% |
| 1993 | 5.3% | +3.4% |
| 1994 | 6.2% | +16.9% |
| 1995 | 6.5% | +5.3% |
| 1996 | 6.9% | +6.0% |
| 1997 | 7.2% | +4.9% |
| 1998 | 7.6% | +4.3% |
| 1999 | 7.7% | +1.7% |
| 2000 | 8.2% | +7.3% |
| 2001 | 8.3% | +0.7% |
| 2002 | 7.4% | -11.3% |
| 2003 | 8.1% | +9.3% |
| 2004 | 6.6% | -17.6% |
| 2005 | 5.1% | -22.8% |
| 2006 | 5.6% | +8.6% |
| 2007 | 4.4% | -20.2% |
| 2008 | 4.1% | -7.3% |
| 2009 | 5.5% | +33.9% |
| 2010 | 4.0% | -26.7% |
| 2011 | 4.8% | +18.6% |
| 2012 | 5.4% | +12.6% |
| 2013 | 3.6% | -33.0% |
| 2014 | 3.7% | +1.6% |
| 2015 | 4.3% | +16.9% |
| 2016 | 3.0% | -30.2% |
| 2017 | 3.7% | +24.1% |
| 2018 | 3.3% | -12.4% |
| 2019 | 1.1% | -67.1% |
| 2020 | 1.7% | +60.3% |
| 2021 | 0.9% | -50.1% |
| 2022 | 0.0% | -98.5% |
| 2023 | 0.4% | +3314.2% |
Zambia compared with similar countries
- Zambia's 0.4% is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 1.1%, 38% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Zambia's 0.4% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.9%, 48% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Is agricultural land expanding? Change over the prior decade in Zambia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | +3314.2% | 0.0% | 0.4% |
| 1985 | +359.2% | 0.1% | 0.5% |
| 1984 | +349.3% | -0.0% | 0.1% |
| 1981 | -254.0% | -0.1% | -0.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 3.1% | -0.1% | 3.9% | 9 |
| 1980s | 0.9% | -0.5% | 5.0% | 10 |
| 1990s | 6.2% | 4.4% | 7.7% | 10 |
| 2000s | 6.3% | 4.1% | 8.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.7% | 1.1% | 5.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.8% | 0.0% | 1.7% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Zambia
More agriculture & rural data for Zambia
- Cropland extent over the long-term, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Cropland extent over the long-term, per unit of GDP 0.0001 hectares per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Cropland extent over the long-term, per capita 0.1752 hectares per person (2025)
- Agricultural area over the long-term, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agricultural area over the long-term, per unit of GDP 0.0008 hectares per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agricultural area over the long-term, per capita 1.09 hectares per person (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 65.37 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0411 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 54.11 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 1.97 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Zambia?
- Is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade in Zambia was 0.4% 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 Zambia?
- The highest recorded value was 8.3% in 2001.
- What is the lowest is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade recorded in Zambia?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.5% in 1981.
- How does Zambia rank for is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade?
- Zambia ranks 73rd out of 225 countries with data for 2023.
- Is is agricultural land expanding? change over the prior decade rising or falling in Zambia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 88.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Zambia 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.