Statizoid

Arable and permanent cropland (hectares) by country

This land category is the sum of areas under “Arable land” and "Permanent crops”. Arable land includes land defined by the FAO as land under temporary crops (double-cropped areas are counted once), temporary meadows for mowing or for pasture, land under

Countries reporting
52
Highest
39.20 million hectares
Nigeria
Lowest
3,000 hectares
Seychelles
Median
3.49 million hectares
Years covered
51
1961–2011
Data points
2,926

What the numbers show

Arable and permanent cropland (hectares) is currently reported for 52 countries. The highest value is 39.20 million hectares in Nigeria; the lowest is 3,000 hectares in Seychelles.

The median across all reporting countries is 3.49 million hectares, and the mean is 4.95 million hectares.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 13,067.

Over the past decade 38 countries rose and 13 fell. The largest increase was in Sierra Leone (up 55.9%), and the largest decrease in Seychelles (down 25.0%).

Arable and permanent cropland: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Nigeria 39.20 million hectares 2011 up 19.9% rising
2 Sudan 19.02 million hectares 2011 up 15.3% rising
3 Ethiopia 15.68 million hectares 2011 up 37.5% flat
4 Niger 15.00 million hectares 2011 up 7.1% rising
5 Tanzania 13.30 million hectares 2011 up 31.7% rising
6 South Africa 12.45 million hectares 2011 down 11.6% rising
7 Morocco 9.10 million hectares 2011 down 2.8% rising
8 Uganda 8.95 million hectares 2011 up 19.3% rising
9 Algeria 8.42 million hectares 2011 up 3.1% rising
10 Cameroon 7.60 million hectares 2011 up 6.1% rising
10 Ghana 7.60 million hectares 2011 up 22.4% rising
12 Democratic Republic of Congo 7.55 million hectares 2011 up 1.4% rising
13 Cote d'Ivoire 7.30 million hectares 2011 up 10.6% rising
14 Mali 6.98 million hectares 2011 up 48.5% volatile
15 Kenya 6.15 million hectares 2011 up 11.0% rising
16 Burkina Faso 5.76 million hectares 2011 up 23.7% rising
17 Mozambique 5.40 million hectares 2011 up 27.1% rising
18 Tunisia 5.23 million hectares 2011 up 6.6% rising
19 Chad 4.93 million hectares 2011 up 25.5% rising
20 Angola 4.39 million hectares 2011 up 33.0% rising
21 Zimbabwe 4.22 million hectares 2011 up 14.1% rising
22 Madagascar 4.10 million hectares 2011 up 15.5% rising
23 Senegal 3.90 million hectares 2011 up 23.6% rising
24 Malawi 3.73 million hectares 2011 up 25.6% rising
25 Egypt 3.67 million hectares 2011 up 9.8% rising
26 Guinea 3.54 million hectares 2011 up 24.6% falling
27 Zambia 3.44 million hectares 2011 up 24.7% rising
28 Benin 2.88 million hectares 2011 up 6.1% rising
29 Togo 2.72 million hectares 2011 up 9.7% rising
30 Libya 2.08 million hectares 2011 down 3.0% rising
31 Central African Republic 1.88 million hectares 2011 down 7.1% rising
32 Rwanda 1.47 million hectares 2011 up 16.8% rising
33 Burundi 1.32 million hectares 2011 down 1.3% rising
34 Sierra Leone 1.24 million hectares 2011 up 55.9% rising
35 Somalia 1.13 million hectares 2011 up 5.4% rising
36 Namibia 809,000 hectares 2011 down 1.3% rising
37 Eritrea 692,000 hectares 2011 up 22.5% rising
38 Liberia 630,000 hectares 2011 up 6.8% flat
39 Congo 560,000 hectares 2011 up 3.7% flat
40 Guinea-Bissau 550,000 hectares 2011 up 0.4% rising
41 Gabon 495,000 hectares 2011 unchanged rising
42 Mauritania 461,000 hectares 2011 down 0.2% rising
43 Gambia 455,000 hectares 2011 up 40.0% rising
44 Lesotho 312,000 hectares 2011 down 6.6% falling
45 Botswana 261,000 hectares 2011 up 29.9% falling
46 Equatorial Guinea 200,000 hectares 2011 down 13.0% flat
47 Eswatini 190,000 hectares 2011 down 1.0% rising
48 Comoros 140,000 hectares 2011 up 6.1% rising
49 Mauritius 82,000 hectares 2011 down 13.7% falling
50 Cape Verde 50,000 hectares 2011 up 4.2% rising
51 Sao Tome and Principe 47,700 hectares 2011 down 4.6% rising
52 Seychelles 3,000 hectares 2011 down 25.0% falling

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

About this data

Indicator
Arable and permanent cropland (hectares)
Unit
hectares
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
58 places, 2,926 data points, 1961–2011
Last refreshed

This land category is the sum of areas under “Arable land” and "Permanent crops”. Arable land includes land defined by the FAO as land under temporary crops (double-cropped areas are counted once), temporary meadows for mowing or for pasture, land under