Cereal cropland (% of land area) by country
Land under cereal production refers to harvested area, although some countries report only sown or cultivated area. Cereals include wheat, rice, maize, barley, oats, rye, millet, sorghum, buckwheat, and mixed grains. Production data on cereals relate to crops harvested for dry grain only. Cereal crops harvested for...
What the numbers show
Cereal cropland (% of land area) is currently reported for 51 countries. The highest value is 20.8% in Gambia; the lowest is 0.0% in Djibouti.
The median across all reporting countries is 4.4%, and the mean is 5.9%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 69,018.
Over the past decade 42 countries rose and 8 fell. The largest increase was in Botswana (up 317.7%), and the largest decrease in Lesotho (down 38.8%).
Cereal cropland: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gambia | 20.8% | 2011 | up 35.0% | volatile |
| 2 | Malawi | 19.9% | 2011 | up 18.1% | rising |
| 3 | Nigeria | 18.2% | 2011 | up 1.7% | rising |
| 4 | Rwanda | 17.8% | 2011 | up 40.7% | rising |
| 5 | Togo | 15.9% | 2011 | up 21.9% | rising |
| 6 | Burkina Faso | 13.5% | 2011 | up 14.7% | rising |
| 7 | Comoros | 12.7% | 2011 | up 32.5% | rising |
| 8 | Ethiopia | 10.1% | 2011 | up 26.1% | rising |
| 9 | Uganda | 10.1% | 2011 | up 43.1% | rising |
| 10 | Sierra Leone | 10.0% | 2011 | up 114.1% | rising |
| 11 | Burundi | 9.7% | 2011 | up 18.6% | rising |
| 12 | Morocco | 9.6% | 2011 | down 16.6% | rising |
| 13 | Benin | 9.3% | 2011 | up 19.0% | rising |
| 14 | Tunisia | 8.8% | 2011 | up 68.3% | falling |
| 15 | Guinea | 8.2% | 2011 | up 73.3% | volatile |
| 16 | Niger | 7.9% | 2011 | up 26.5% | rising |
| 17 | Cape Verde | 7.8% | 2011 | up 2.1% | volatile |
| 18 | Ghana | 7.2% | 2011 | up 19.8% | rising |
| 19 | Tanzania, United Republic of | 6.5% | 2011 | up 157.8% | rising |
| 20 | Guinea-Bissau | 6.3% | 2011 | up 10.5% | rising |
| 21 | Senegal | 5.9% | 2011 | down 1.3% | rising |
| 22 | Lesotho | 5.2% | 2011 | down 38.8% | falling |
| 23 | Zimbabwe | 5.0% | 2011 | up 22.0% | rising |
| 24 | Mali | 4.8% | 2011 | up 121.4% | rising |
| 25 | Kenya | 4.7% | 2011 | up 30.4% | rising |
| 26 | Eritrea | 4.4% | 2011 | up 29.9% | volatile |
| 27 | Madagascar | 3.8% | 2011 | up 57.0% | rising |
| 28 | Cameroon | 3.8% | 2011 | up 124.4% | rising |
| 29 | Sudan | 3.3% | 2010 | up 22.2% | rising |
| 30 | Mozambique | 3.3% | 2011 | up 49.7% | rising |
| 31 | Egypt | 3.1% | 2011 | up 16.2% | rising |
| 32 | Eswatini | 2.8% | 2011 | down 17.5% | falling |
| 33 | Côte d'Ivoire | 2.7% | 2011 | up 12.3% | rising |
| 34 | South Africa | 2.6% | 2011 | down 27.3% | falling |
| 35 | Liberia | 2.6% | 2011 | up 92.3% | falling |
| 36 | Chad | 2.0% | 2011 | up 20.2% | rising |
| 37 | Zambia | 1.6% | 2011 | up 73.0% | falling |
| 38 | Angola | 1.6% | 2011 | up 107.0% | rising |
| 39 | Sao Tome and Principe | 1.4% | 2011 | up 13.0% | volatile |
| 40 | Algeria | 1.2% | 2011 | up 17.6% | falling |
| 41 | Congo, Democratic Republic of the | 1.0% | 2011 | up 17.1% | rising |
| 42 | Somalia | 0.9% | 2011 | up 10.3% | rising |
| 43 | Namibia | 0.3% | 2011 | up 3.6% | rising |
| 44 | Botswana | 0.3% | 2011 | up 317.7% | volatile |
| 45 | Central African Republic | 0.3% | 2011 | down 5.8% | rising |
| 46 | Libya | 0.2% | 2011 | up 1.0% | falling |
| 47 | Mauritania | 0.1% | 2011 | down 25.4% | flat |
| 48 | Gabon | 0.1% | 2011 | up 56.7% | volatile |
| 49 | Congo | 0.1% | 2011 | up 41.5% | rising |
| 50 | Mauritius | 0.0% | 2011 | down 20.4% | volatile |
| 51 | Djibouti | 0.0% | 2011 | unchanged | rising |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
About this data
Land under cereal production refers to harvested area, although some countries report only sown or cultivated area. Cereals include wheat, rice, maize, barley, oats, rye, millet, sorghum, buckwheat, and mixed grains. Production data on cereals relate to crops harvested for dry grain only. Cereal crops harvested for hay or harvested green for food, feed, or silage and those used for grazing are excluded.