What is fertilizer use per capita in United States?

Fertilizer use per capita in United States was 12.43 Kilograms per capita 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 fertilizer use per capita recorded in United States?

The highest recorded value was 24.89 Kilograms per capita in 1979.

What is the lowest fertilizer use per capita recorded in United States?

The lowest recorded value was 9.16 Kilograms per capita in 2008.

How does United States rank for fertilizer use per capita?

United States ranks 14th out of 204 countries with data for 2023.

Is fertilizer use per capita rising or falling in United States?

Over the last ten years it is down 16.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.

Where does this United States 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 Fertilizer use per capita. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Fertilizer use per capita in United States

Name: Fertilizer use per capita in United States
Creator: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
License: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)

United States: Fertilizer use per capita was 12.43 Kilograms per capita in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)

12.43 Kilograms per capita

Change on year

down 0.6%

World rank

14th

of 204 countries

All-time high

24.89 Kilograms per capita

in 1979

All-time low

9.16 Kilograms per capita

in 2008

Years of data

1961–2023

Fertilizer use per capita in United States, 1961–2023

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for fertilizer use per capita in United States is 12.43 Kilograms per capita, measured in 2023.

That represents a change of down 0.6% on the previous year and down 16.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, fertilizer use per capita in United States peaked at 24.89 Kilograms per capita in 1979 and was at its lowest, 9.16 Kilograms per capita, in 2008.

United States ranks 14th of 204 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

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

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1960s	14.47 Kilograms per capita	11.02 Kilograms per capita	17.58 Kilograms per capita	9
1970s	21.13 Kilograms per capita	18.13 Kilograms per capita	24.89 Kilograms per capita	10
1980s	20.23 Kilograms per capita	17.87 Kilograms per capita	24.82 Kilograms per capita	10
1990s	17.57 Kilograms per capita	16.15 Kilograms per capita	18.2 Kilograms per capita	10
2000s	14.71 Kilograms per capita	9.16 Kilograms per capita	17.27 Kilograms per capita	10
2010s	13.62 Kilograms per capita	13.23 Kilograms per capita	14.89 Kilograms per capita	10
2020s	12.98 Kilograms per capita	12.43 Kilograms per capita	13.97 Kilograms per capita	4

Countries ranked near United States

11 Belize 14.49 Kilograms per capita compare
12 Latvia 13.43 Kilograms per capita compare
13 Costa Rica 13.04 Kilograms per capita compare
15 Australia 9.82 Kilograms per capita compare
16 Poland 9.69 Kilograms per capita compare
17 Croatia 8.39 Kilograms per capita compare

See the full ranking of 205 places →

More agriculture & rural data for United States

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 223.72 billion current US$ (2021)
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 0.9% (2021)
Rural population 67.70 million (2025)
Rural population growth 0.2% (2025)
Rural population 19.8% (2025)
Agricultural raw materials imports 0.8% (2024)
Agricultural raw materials exports 1.6% (2024)
Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 0.9% (2021)
Share of GDP from agriculture 0.9% (2021)
Land under cereal production 54.08 million hectares (2024)

All data for United States →

Frequently asked questions

What is fertilizer use per capita in United States?: Fertilizer use per capita in United States was 12.43 Kilograms per capita 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 fertilizer use per capita recorded in United States?: The highest recorded value was 24.89 Kilograms per capita in 1979.
What is the lowest fertilizer use per capita recorded in United States?: The lowest recorded value was 9.16 Kilograms per capita in 2008.
How does United States rank for fertilizer use per capita?: United States ranks 14th out of 204 countries with data for 2023.
Is fertilizer use per capita rising or falling in United States?: Over the last ten years it is down 16.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this United States 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 Fertilizer use per capita. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

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About this data

Indicator: Fertilizer use per capita
Unit: Kilograms per capita
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: 205 places, 9,850 data points, 1961–2023
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Fertilizer use is the sum of synthetic inputs of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous, plus organic nitrogen inputs. This is given in kilograms per person per year.