Cereals, primary — Area harvested in Africa

Africa: Cereals, primary — Area harvested was 132.85 million ha in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
132.85 million ha
Change on year
up 2.5%
Rank
3rd
of 38 groups
All-time high
132.85 million ha
in 2024
All-time low
57.16 million ha
in 1961
Years of data
64
1961–2024

Cereals, primary — Area harvested in Africa, 1961–2024

050.0M100.0M150.0M196119922024

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in ha.

Analysis

Africa recorded 132.85 million ha for cereals, primary — area harvested in 2024. That is the highest value across all 64 years on record.

The figure is up 2.5% on the previous year and up 10.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, cereals, primary — area harvested in Africa peaked at 132.85 million ha in 2024 and was at its lowest, 57.16 million ha, in 1961.

That places Africa 3rd out of 38 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 61.47 million ha 57.16 million ha 68.43 million ha 9
1970s 65.20 million ha 62.12 million ha 68.05 million ha 10
1980s 70.41 million ha 61.88 million ha 80.65 million ha 10
1990s 88.24 million ha 78.93 million ha 93.94 million ha 10
2000s 99.09 million ha 87.77 million ha 107.43 million ha 10
2010s 118.87 million ha 110.71 million ha 128.44 million ha 10
2020s 128.80 million ha 126.28 million ha 132.85 million ha 5

Countries ranked near Africa

  1. 1 India 107.67 million ha compare
  2. 2 USSR 102.82 million ha compare
  3. 3 China, People's Republic of 100.58 million ha compare
  4. 4 China, mainland 100.29 million ha compare
  5. 5 Russian Federation 39.58 million ha compare
  6. 6 Brazil 27.78 million ha compare

See the full ranking of 226 places →

More agriculture & rural data for Africa

All data for Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is cereals, primary — area harvested in Africa?
Cereals, primary — area harvested in Africa was 132.85 million ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest cereals, primary — area harvested recorded in Africa?
The highest recorded value was 132.85 million ha in 2024.
What is the lowest cereals, primary — area harvested recorded in Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 57.16 million ha in 1961.
How does Africa rank for cereals, primary — area harvested?
Africa ranks 3rd out of 38 groups with data for 2024.
Is cereals, primary — area harvested rising or falling in Africa?
Over the last ten years it is up 10.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Africa data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Cereals, primary — Area harvested. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Cereals, primary — Area harvested in Africa. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 19 August 2026, from https://agriculture.statizoid.com/stat/cereals-primary-area-harvested/africa/

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About this data

Indicator
Cereals, primary — Area harvested
Unit
ha
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
226 places, 12,898 data points, 1961–2024
Last refreshed

Crop and livestock statistics are recorded for 278 products, covering the following categories: 1) CROPS PRIMARY: Cereals, Citrus Fruit, Fibre Crops, Fruit, Oil Crops, Oil Crops and Cakes in Oil Equivalent, Pulses, Roots and Tubers, Sugar Crops, Treenuts and Vegetables. Data are expressed in terms of area harvested, production quantity and yield. Cereals: Area and 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 or used for grazing are therefore excluded. 2) CROPS PROCESSED: Beer of barley; Cotton lint; Cottonseed; Margarine, short; Molasses; Oil, coconut (copra); Oil, cottonseed; Oil, groundnut; Oil, linseed; Oil, maize; Oil, olive, virgin; Oil, palm; Oil, palm kernel; Oil, rapeseed; Oil, safflower; Oil, sesame; Oil, soybean; Oil, sunflower; Palm kernels; Sugar Raw Centrifugal; Wine. 3) LIVE ANIMALS: Animals live n.e.s.; Asses; Beehives; Buffaloes; Camelids, other; Camels; Cattle; Chickens; Ducks; Geese and guinea fowls; Goats; Horses; Mules; Pigeons, other birds; Pigs; Rabbits and hares; Rodents, other; Sheep; Turkeys. 4) LIVESTOCK PRIMARY: Beeswax; Eggs (various types); Hides buffalo, fresh; Hides, cattle, fresh; Honey, natural; Meat (ass, bird nes, buffalo, camel, cattle, chicken, duck, game, goat, goose and guinea fowl, horse, mule, Meat nes, meat other camelids, Meat other rodents, pig, rabbit, sheep, turkey); Milk (buffalo, camel, cow, goat, sheep); Offals, nes; Silk-worm cocoons, reelable; Skins (goat, sheep); Snails, not sea; Wool, greasy. 5) LIVESTOCK PROCESSED: Butter (of milk from sheep, goat, buffalo, cow); Cheese (of milk from goat, buffalo, sheep, cow milk); Cheese of skimmed cow milk; Cream fresh; Ghee (cow and buffalo milk); Lard; Milk (dry buttermilk, skimmed condensed, skimmed cow, skimmed dried, skimmed evaporated, whole condensed, whole dried, whole evaporated); Silk raw; Tallow; Whey (condensed and dry); Yoghurt.