Cropland area in Japan
Japan: Cropland area was 4.30 million hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling
Cropland area in Japan, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
The most recent figure for cropland area in Japan is 4.30 million hectares, measured in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 63 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.6% on the previous year and down 5.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cropland area in Japan peaked at 6.03 million hectares in 1964 and was at its lowest, 4.30 million hectares, in 2023.
That places Japan 60th out of 219 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 5.96 million hectares | 5.75 million hectares | 6.03 million hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 5.61 million hectares | 5.47 million hectares | 5.80 million hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 5.38 million hectares | 5.28 million hectares | 5.46 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 5.06 million hectares | 4.87 million hectares | 5.24 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 4.71 million hectares | 4.61 million hectares | 4.83 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.50 million hectares | 4.40 million hectares | 4.59 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.34 million hectares | 4.30 million hectares | 4.37 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Japan
More agriculture & rural data for Japan
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 40.15 billion current US$ (2024)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 1.0% (2024)
- Rural population 9.50 million (2025)
- Rural population growth -1.9% (2025)
- Rural population 7.7% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.6% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.5% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 1.0% (2024)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 1.0% (2024)
- Land under cereal production 1.84 million hectares (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cropland area in Japan?
- Cropland area in Japan was 4.30 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 Japan?
- The highest recorded value was 6.03 million hectares in 1964.
- What is the lowest cropland area recorded in Japan?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.30 million hectares in 2023.
- How does Japan rank for cropland area?
- Japan ranks 60th out of 219 countries with data for 2023.
- Is cropland area rising or falling in Japan?
- Over the last ten years it is down 5.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Japan 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).