Cropland area in China
China: Cropland area was 127.58 million hectares in 2023. ▲ Rising
Cropland area in China, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
China recorded 127.58 million hectares for cropland area in 2023.
That represents a change of down 3.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cropland area in China peaked at 135.38 million hectares in 2009 and was at its lowest, 99.31 million hectares, in 1980.
That places China 3rd 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
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 103.36 million hectares | 102.00 million hectares | 104.35 million hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 100.28 million hectares | 99.35 million hectares | 101.60 million hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 116.95 million hectares | 99.31 million hectares | 129.70 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 130.45 million hectares | 130.00 million hectares | 132.38 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 132.71 million hectares | 130.04 million hectares | 135.38 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 131.25 million hectares | 127.86 million hectares | 134.63 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 127.63 million hectares | 127.58 million hectares | 127.77 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near China
More agriculture & rural data for China
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 1.30 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 6.7% (2025)
- Rural population 473.41 million (2025)
- Rural population growth -1.5% (2025)
- Rural population 33.7% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.7% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.3% (2024)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 6.7% (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 6.7% (2025)
- Land under cereal production 99.99 million hectares (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cropland area in China?
- Cropland area in China was 127.58 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 China?
- The highest recorded value was 135.38 million hectares in 2009.
- What is the lowest cropland area recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 99.31 million hectares in 1980.
- How does China rank for cropland area?
- China ranks 3rd out of 219 countries with data for 2023.
- Is cropland area rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this China 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).