Cropland area in Australia

Australia: Cropland area was 31.37 million hectares in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
31.37 million hectares
Change on year
down 0.9%
World rank
11th
of 219 countries
All-time high
32.31 million hectares
in 2014
All-time low
13.75 million hectares
in 1975
Years of data
63
1961–2023

Cropland area in Australia, 1961–2023

010.0M20.0M30.0M196119922023

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.

Analysis

In 2023, cropland area in Australia stood at 31.37 million hectares.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.9% on the previous year and down 0.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, cropland area in Australia peaked at 32.31 million hectares in 2014 and was at its lowest, 13.75 million hectares, in 1975.

That places Australia 11th out of 219 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 17.74 million hectares 14.55 million hectares 21.60 million hectares 9
1970s 16.07 million hectares 13.75 million hectares 18.68 million hectares 10
1980s 19.51 million hectares 17.70 million hectares 21.91 million hectares 10
1990s 18.87 million hectares 16.40 million hectares 23.26 million hectares 10
2000s 24.87 million hectares 23.53 million hectares 27.51 million hectares 10
2010s 30.90 million hectares 25.97 million hectares 32.31 million hectares 10
2020s 31.42 million hectares 31.00 million hectares 31.65 million hectares 4

Countries ranked near Australia

  1. 8 Argentina 41.46 million hectares compare
  2. 9 Canada 38.31 million hectares compare
  3. 10 Ukraine 33.78 million hectares compare
  4. 12 Pakistan 31.00 million hectares compare
  5. 13 Kazakhstan 29.80 million hectares compare
  6. 14 Mexico 24.45 million hectares compare

See the full ranking of 225 places →

More agriculture & rural data for Australia

All data for Australia →

Frequently asked questions

What is cropland area in Australia?
Cropland area in Australia was 31.37 million hectares in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest cropland area recorded in Australia?
The highest recorded value was 32.31 million hectares in 2014.
What is the lowest cropland area recorded in Australia?
The lowest recorded value was 13.75 million hectares in 1975.
How does Australia rank for cropland area?
Australia ranks 11th out of 219 countries with data for 2023.
Is cropland area rising or falling in Australia?
Over the last ten years it is down 0.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Australia data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Cropland area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 63 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Cropland area
Unit
hectares
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
225 places, 13,015 data points, 1961–2023
Last refreshed