Arable and permanent cropland in Malawi
Malawi: Arable and permanent cropland was 3.73 million hectares in 2011. ▲ Rising
Arable and permanent cropland in Malawi, 1961–2011
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
The most recent figure for arable and permanent cropland in Malawi is 3.73 million hectares, measured in 2011. That is the highest value across all 51 years on record.
That represents a change of up 25.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, arable and permanent cropland in Malawi peaked at 3.73 million hectares in 2010 and was at its lowest, 1.36 million hectares, in 1961.
Malawi ranks 24th of 52 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 51 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.67 million hectares | 1.36 million hectares | 1.92 million hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 2.07 million hectares | 1.87 million hectares | 2.13 million hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 2.18 million hectares | 1.99 million hectares | 2.33 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 2.50 million hectares | 2.23 million hectares | 2.83 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 3.21 million hectares | 2.87 million hectares | 3.63 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.73 million hectares | 3.73 million hectares | 3.73 million hectares | 2 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More agriculture & rural data for Malawi
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 4.48 billion current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 30.0% (2025)
- Rural population 18.31 million (2025)
- Rural population growth 2.2% (2025)
- Rural population 82.4% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.7% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.9% (2024)
- Value added in the agricultural sector as of gdp vs gdp per capita 30.03 (2025)
- Agriculture share gdp 30.03 (2025)
- Land under cereal production 2.04 million hectares (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is arable and permanent cropland in Malawi?
- Arable and permanent cropland in Malawi was 3.73 million hectares in 2011, according to Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site.
- What is the highest arable and permanent cropland recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 3.73 million hectares in 2010.
- What is the lowest arable and permanent cropland recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.36 million hectares in 1961.
- How does Malawi rank for arable and permanent cropland?
- Malawi ranks 24th out of 52 countries with data for 2011.
- Is arable and permanent cropland rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 25.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malawi data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site, published as part of Arable and permanent cropland (hectares). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 51 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
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