Arable land in Middle income
Middle income: Arable land was 12.3% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Arable land in Middle income, 1961–2023
Source: FAO electronic files and website, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in % of land area.
Analysis
Middle income recorded 12.3% for arable land in 2023.
That represents a change of down 0.3% on the previous year and down 0.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, arable land in Middle income peaked at 12.4% in 2016 and was at its lowest, 9.7%, in 1961.
Middle income ranks 11th of 47 groups on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.
Arable land in Middle income, year by year
| Year | % of land area | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 9.7% | — |
| 1962 | 9.8% | +0.4% |
| 1963 | 9.9% | +0.8% |
| 1964 | 9.9% | +0.4% |
| 1965 | 10.0% | +0.6% |
| 1966 | 10.0% | +0.5% |
| 1967 | 10.1% | +0.5% |
| 1968 | 10.1% | +0.5% |
| 1969 | 10.1% | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 10.1% | +0.3% |
| 1971 | 10.1% | +0.1% |
| 1972 | 10.2% | +0.9% |
| 1973 | 10.3% | +0.8% |
| 1974 | 10.4% | +0.4% |
| 1975 | 10.4% | +0.3% |
| 1976 | 10.5% | +0.7% |
| 1977 | 10.5% | +0.7% |
| 1978 | 10.6% | +1.0% |
| 1979 | 10.7% | +0.8% |
| 1980 | 10.8% | +0.2% |
| 1981 | 10.8% | +0.4% |
| 1982 | 11.0% | +1.5% |
| 1983 | 11.0% | +0.8% |
| 1984 | 11.3% | +1.9% |
| 1985 | 11.5% | +1.8% |
| 1986 | 11.5% | +0.1% |
| 1987 | 11.5% | +0.5% |
| 1988 | 11.5% | -0.0% |
| 1989 | 11.6% | +0.4% |
| 1990 | 11.6% | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 11.6% | +0.2% |
| 1992 | 12.1% | +3.9% |
| 1993 | 12.0% | -0.1% |
| 1994 | 12.0% | -0.1% |
| 1995 | 12.0% | +0.1% |
| 1996 | 12.0% | -0.1% |
| 1997 | 12.0% | +0.1% |
| 1998 | 12.1% | +0.3% |
| 1999 | 12.1% | +0.3% |
| 2000 | 12.0% | -0.5% |
| 2001 | 12.1% | +0.2% |
| 2002 | 12.1% | +0.1% |
| 2003 | 12.1% | +0.4% |
| 2004 | 12.1% | +0.2% |
| 2005 | 12.2% | +0.4% |
| 2006 | 12.2% | +0.4% |
| 2007 | 12.3% | +0.2% |
| 2008 | 12.2% | -0.2% |
| 2009 | 12.3% | +0.1% |
| 2010 | 12.3% | +0.3% |
| 2011 | 12.3% | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 12.3% | +0.1% |
| 2013 | 12.3% | +0.1% |
| 2014 | 12.3% | -0.1% |
| 2015 | 12.4% | +0.4% |
| 2016 | 12.4% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 12.4% | -0.2% |
| 2018 | 12.4% | -0.0% |
| 2019 | 12.3% | -0.4% |
| 2020 | 12.4% | +0.6% |
| 2021 | 12.4% | -0.0% |
| 2022 | 12.4% | -0.2% |
| 2023 | 12.3% | -0.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 9.9% | 9.7% | 10.1% | 9 |
| 1970s | 10.4% | 10.1% | 10.7% | 10 |
| 1980s | 11.2% | 10.8% | 11.6% | 10 |
| 1990s | 12.0% | 11.6% | 12.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 12.2% | 12.0% | 12.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 12.3% | 12.3% | 12.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 12.4% | 12.3% | 12.4% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Middle income
More agriculture & rural data for Middle income
- Rural population, per capita 0.4459 units per person (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 8.8% (2025)
- Rural population 2.69 billion (2025)
- Rural population growth 0.0% (2025)
- Rural population 44.6% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.8% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.2% (2024)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 597.13 current US$ per person (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 3.43 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0881 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is arable land in Middle income?
- Arable land in Middle income was 12.3% in 2023, according to FAO electronic files and website, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
- What is the highest arable land recorded in Middle income?
- The highest recorded value was 12.4% in 2016.
- What is the lowest arable land recorded in Middle income?
- The lowest recorded value was 9.7% in 1961.
- How does Middle income rank for arable land?
- Middle income ranks 11th out of 47 groups with data for 2023.
- Is arable land rising or falling in Middle income?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Middle income data come from?
- The figures come from FAO electronic files and website, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), published as part of Arable land (% of land area). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 63 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
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 market or kitchen gardens, and land temporarily fallow. Land abandoned as a result of shifting cultivation is excluded.