What is land area in World?

Land area in World was 129.76 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 World?

The highest recorded value was 129.96 million sq. km in 2020.

What is the lowest land area recorded in World?

The lowest recorded value was 104.21 million sq. km in 1989.

How does World rank for land area?

World ranks 1st out of 47 groups with data for 2023.

Is land area rising or falling in World?

Over the last ten years it is down 0.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this World 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 World

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

World: Land area was 129.76 million sq. km in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)

129.76 million sq. km

Change on year

up 0.0%

Rank

1st

of 47 groups

All-time high

129.96 million sq. km

in 2020

All-time low

104.21 million sq. km

in 1989

Years of data

1961–2023

Land area in World, 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 World is 129.76 million sq. km, measured in 2023.

That represents a change of down 0.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, land area in World peaked at 129.96 million sq. km in 2020 and was at its lowest, 104.21 million sq. km, in 1989.

That places World 1st out of 47 groups 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.

Land area in World, year by year

Annual values for Land area (sq. km) in World, 1961 to 2023.
Year	sq. km	Change
1961	104.22 million sq. km	—
1962	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1963	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1964	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1965	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1966	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1967	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1968	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1969	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1970	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1971	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1972	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1973	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1974	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1975	104.22 million sq. km	-0.0%
1976	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1977	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1978	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1979	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1980	104.22 million sq. km	-0.0%
1981	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1982	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1983	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1984	104.21 million sq. km	-0.0%
1985	104.21 million sq. km	+0.0%
1986	104.21 million sq. km	+0.0%
1987	104.21 million sq. km	+0.0%
1988	104.21 million sq. km	+0.0%
1989	104.21 million sq. km	-0.0%
1990	104.21 million sq. km	+0.0%
1991	104.22 million sq. km	+0.0%
1992	125.85 million sq. km	+20.8%
1993	127.07 million sq. km	+1.0%
1994	127.06 million sq. km	-0.0%
1995	127.06 million sq. km	-0.0%
1996	127.06 million sq. km	-0.0%
1997	127.12 million sq. km	+0.1%
1998	127.10 million sq. km	-0.0%
1999	127.11 million sq. km	+0.0%
2000	127.20 million sq. km	+0.1%
2001	127.20 million sq. km	-0.0%
2002	127.19 million sq. km	-0.0%
2003	127.20 million sq. km	+0.0%
2004	127.35 million sq. km	+0.1%
2005	127.35 million sq. km	+0.0%
2006	127.45 million sq. km	+0.1%
2007	127.45 million sq. km	+0.0%
2008	127.43 million sq. km	-0.0%
2009	127.43 million sq. km	-0.0%
2010	127.44 million sq. km	+0.0%
2011	127.44 million sq. km	+0.0%
2012	129.94 million sq. km	+2.0%
2013	129.93 million sq. km	-0.0%
2014	129.93 million sq. km	-0.0%
2015	129.94 million sq. km	+0.0%
2016	129.95 million sq. km	+0.0%
2017	129.94 million sq. km	-0.0%
2018	129.95 million sq. km	+0.0%
2019	129.95 million sq. km	+0.0%
2020	129.96 million sq. km	+0.0%
2021	129.80 million sq. km	-0.1%
2022	129.76 million sq. km	-0.0%
2023	129.76 million sq. km	+0.0%

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1960s	104.22 million sq. km	104.22 million sq. km	104.22 million sq. km	9
1970s	104.22 million sq. km	104.22 million sq. km	104.22 million sq. km	10
1980s	104.21 million sq. km	104.21 million sq. km	104.22 million sq. km	10
1990s	122.38 million sq. km	104.21 million sq. km	127.12 million sq. km	10
2000s	127.33 million sq. km	127.19 million sq. km	127.45 million sq. km	10
2010s	129.44 million sq. km	127.44 million sq. km	129.95 million sq. km	10
2020s	129.82 million sq. km	129.76 million sq. km	129.96 million sq. km	4

Countries ranked near World

1 Russia 16.38 million sq. km compare
2 China 9.39 million sq. km compare
3 United States 9.15 million sq. km compare
4 Canada 8.79 million sq. km compare

See the full ranking of 264 places →

More agriculture & rural data for World

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 4.41 % change on previous year (2025)
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0401 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 577.68 current US$ per person (2025)
Rural population, annual growth rate 0.2984 % change on previous year (2025)
Rural population, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Rural population, per capita 0.4217 units per person (2025)
Agricultural raw materials exports 1.2% (2024)
Agricultural raw materials imports 1.2% (2024)
Rural population 42.2% (2025)
Rural population growth 0.3% (2025)

All data for World →

Frequently asked questions

What is land area in World?: Land area in World was 129.76 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 World?: The highest recorded value was 129.96 million sq. km in 2020.
What is the lowest land area recorded in World?: The lowest recorded value was 104.21 million sq. km in 1989.
How does World rank for land area?: World ranks 1st out of 47 groups with data for 2023.
Is land area rising or falling in World?: Over the last ten years it is down 0.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this World 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.

Download this data

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

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Land area in World. Statizoid, drawing on FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Retrieved 22 September 2026, from https://agriculture.statizoid.com/stat/land-area-sq-km/world/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://agriculture.statizoid.com/stat/land-area-sq-km/world/">Land area in World</a> — Statizoid

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: 17 September 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.