What is land area in North America?

Land area in North America was 17.94 million sq. km in 2023, according to FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

What is the highest land area recorded in North America?

The highest recorded value was 18.13 million sq. km in 2000.

What is the lowest land area recorded in North America?

The lowest recorded value was 17.94 million sq. km in 2021.

How does North America rank for land area?

North America ranks 27th out of 47 groups with data for 2023.

Is land area rising or falling in North America?

Over the last ten years it is down 1.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.

Where does this North America data come from?

The figures come from FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), published as part of Land area (sq. km). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Land area in North America

Name: Land area in North America
Creator: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
License: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)

North America: Land area was 17.94 million sq. km in 2023. ▬ Flat

Latest (2023)

17.94 million sq. km

Change on year

unchanged

Rank

27th

of 47 groups

All-time high

18.13 million sq. km

in 2000

All-time low

17.94 million sq. km

in 2021

Years of data

1961–2023

Land area in North America, 1961–2023

Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in sq. km.

Analysis

The most recent figure for land area in North America is 17.94 million sq. km, measured in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 63 years on record.

The figure is down 1.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, land area in North America peaked at 18.13 million sq. km in 2000 and was at its lowest, 17.94 million sq. km, in 2021.

North America ranks 27th of 47 groups on this measure, in the middle of the range.

Land area in North America, year by year

Annual values for Land area (sq. km) in North America, 1961 to 2023.
Year	sq. km	Change
1961	18.12 million sq. km	—
1962	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1963	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1964	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1965	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1966	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1967	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1968	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1969	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1970	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1971	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1972	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1973	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1974	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1975	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1976	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1977	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1978	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1979	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1980	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1981	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1982	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1983	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1984	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1985	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1986	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1987	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1988	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1989	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1990	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1991	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1992	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1993	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1994	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1995	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1996	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1997	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1998	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
1999	18.12 million sq. km	+0.0%
2000	18.13 million sq. km	+0.0%
2001	18.13 million sq. km	+0.0%
2002	18.13 million sq. km	+0.0%
2003	18.13 million sq. km	+0.0%
2004	18.13 million sq. km	+0.0%
2005	18.13 million sq. km	+0.0%
2006	18.13 million sq. km	+0.0%
2007	18.13 million sq. km	+0.0%
2008	18.11 million sq. km	-0.1%
2009	18.11 million sq. km	+0.0%
2010	18.11 million sq. km	+0.0%
2011	18.11 million sq. km	+0.0%
2012	18.11 million sq. km	+0.0%
2013	18.11 million sq. km	+0.0%
2014	18.11 million sq. km	+0.0%
2015	18.11 million sq. km	+0.0%
2016	18.11 million sq. km	+0.0%
2017	18.11 million sq. km	+0.0%
2018	18.11 million sq. km	+0.0%
2019	18.11 million sq. km	+0.0%
2020	18.11 million sq. km	+0.0%
2021	17.94 million sq. km	-1.0%
2022	17.94 million sq. km	+0.0%
2023	17.94 million sq. km	+0.0%

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1960s	18.12 million sq. km	18.12 million sq. km	18.12 million sq. km	9
1970s	18.12 million sq. km	18.12 million sq. km	18.12 million sq. km	10
1980s	18.12 million sq. km	18.12 million sq. km	18.12 million sq. km	10
1990s	18.12 million sq. km	18.12 million sq. km	18.12 million sq. km	10
2000s	18.12 million sq. km	18.11 million sq. km	18.13 million sq. km	10
2010s	18.11 million sq. km	18.11 million sq. km	18.11 million sq. km	10
2020s	17.98 million sq. km	17.94 million sq. km	18.11 million sq. km	4

Countries ranked near North America

24 South Africa 1.21 million sq. km compare
25 Ethiopia 1.13 million sq. km compare
26 Colombia 1.11 million sq. km compare
27 Bolivia 1.08 million sq. km compare
28 Mauritania 1.03 million sq. km compare
29 Egypt 995,450 sq. km compare
30 Nigeria 910,770 sq. km compare

See the full ranking of 264 places →

More agriculture & rural data for North America

Rural population, per capita 0.1951 units per person (2025)
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 1.0% (2021)
Rural population 74.83 million (2025)
Rural population growth 0.2% (2025)
Rural population 19.5% (2025)
Agricultural raw materials imports 0.8% (2024)
Agricultural raw materials exports 1.9% (2024)
Rural population, annual growth rate 0.1578 % change on previous year (2025)
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0099 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2021)
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 691.3 current US$ per person (2021)

All data for North America →

Frequently asked questions

What is land area in North America?: Land area in North America was 17.94 million sq. km in 2023, according to FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
What is the highest land area recorded in North America?: The highest recorded value was 18.13 million sq. km in 2000.
What is the lowest land area recorded in North America?: The lowest recorded value was 17.94 million sq. km in 2021.
How does North America rank for land area?: North America ranks 27th out of 47 groups with data for 2023.
Is land area rising or falling in North America?: Over the last ten years it is down 1.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
Where does this North America data come from?: The figures come from FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), published as part of Land area (sq. km). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Land area in North America. Statizoid, drawing on FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Retrieved 06 October 2026, from https://agriculture.statizoid.com/stat/land-area-sq-km/north-america/

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About this data

Indicator: Land area (sq. km)
Unit: sq. km
Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage: 264 places, 15,371 data points, 1961–2023
Last refreshed: 01 October 2026

Land area is a country's total area, excluding area under inland water bodies, national claims to continental shelf, and exclusive economic zones. In most cases the definition of inland water bodies includes major rivers and lakes.