Share of land area used for agriculture in Ireland
Ireland: Share of land area used for agriculture was 60.8% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Share of land area used for agriculture in Ireland, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in % of land area.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of land area used for agriculture in Ireland is 60.8%, measured in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 63 years on record.
That represents a change of down 3.7% on the previous year and down 6.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of land area used for agriculture in Ireland peaked at 71.6% in 1980 and was at its lowest, 60.8%, in 2023.
Ireland ranks 37th of 209 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Share of land area used for agriculture in Ireland, year by year
| Year | % of land area | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 66.2% | — |
| 1962 | 67.0% | +1.2% |
| 1963 | 67.0% | +0.1% |
| 1964 | 67.6% | +0.9% |
| 1965 | 68.3% | +1.0% |
| 1966 | 69.0% | +1.0% |
| 1967 | 69.4% | +0.6% |
| 1968 | 69.7% | +0.4% |
| 1969 | 69.9% | +0.3% |
| 1970 | 69.6% | -0.5% |
| 1971 | 70.0% | +0.6% |
| 1972 | 70.1% | +0.1% |
| 1973 | 70.3% | +0.3% |
| 1974 | 70.4% | +0.1% |
| 1975 | 70.2% | -0.3% |
| 1976 | 70.4% | +0.3% |
| 1977 | 70.8% | +0.6% |
| 1978 | 70.9% | +0.1% |
| 1979 | 71.1% | +0.2% |
| 1980 | 71.6% | +0.7% |
| 1981 | 71.3% | -0.5% |
| 1982 | 71.1% | -0.3% |
| 1983 | 70.8% | -0.4% |
| 1984 | 71.0% | +0.3% |
| 1985 | 70.9% | -0.2% |
| 1986 | 70.3% | -0.8% |
| 1987 | 69.9% | -0.6% |
| 1988 | 69.7% | -0.3% |
| 1989 | 67.9% | -2.6% |
| 1990 | 65.9% | -3.0% |
| 1991 | 64.5% | -2.0% |
| 1992 | 64.1% | -0.6% |
| 1993 | 64.0% | -0.2% |
| 1994 | 63.8% | -0.3% |
| 1995 | 63.7% | -0.1% |
| 1996 | 63.0% | -1.1% |
| 1997 | 63.2% | +0.3% |
| 1998 | 63.4% | +0.3% |
| 1999 | 63.6% | +0.3% |
| 2000 | 63.8% | +0.3% |
| 2001 | 64.0% | +0.3% |
| 2002 | 63.5% | -0.8% |
| 2003 | 63.4% | -0.1% |
| 2004 | 62.5% | -1.5% |
| 2005 | 62.4% | -0.1% |
| 2006 | 61.8% | -1.0% |
| 2007 | 62.1% | +0.4% |
| 2008 | 67.2% | +8.3% |
| 2009 | 66.7% | -0.8% |
| 2010 | 66.3% | -0.6% |
| 2011 | 66.1% | -0.3% |
| 2012 | 65.8% | -0.5% |
| 2013 | 65.0% | -1.2% |
| 2014 | 64.8% | -0.2% |
| 2015 | 64.3% | -0.8% |
| 2016 | 64.8% | +0.7% |
| 2017 | 65.2% | +0.6% |
| 2018 | 65.6% | +0.6% |
| 2019 | 65.7% | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 65.5% | -0.3% |
| 2021 | 63.0% | -3.9% |
| 2022 | 63.1% | +0.3% |
| 2023 | 60.8% | -3.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 68.2% | 66.2% | 69.9% | 9 |
| 1970s | 70.4% | 69.6% | 71.1% | 10 |
| 1980s | 70.4% | 67.9% | 71.6% | 10 |
| 1990s | 63.9% | 63.0% | 65.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 63.7% | 61.8% | 67.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 65.3% | 64.3% | 66.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 63.1% | 60.8% | 65.5% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More agriculture & rural data for Ireland
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 22.64 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0106 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 1,391 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 0.9559 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.3541 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 1.1% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 1.1% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.3% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.5% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of land area used for agriculture in Ireland?
- Share of land area used for agriculture in Ireland was 60.8% in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of land area used for agriculture recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 71.6% in 1980.
- What is the lowest share of land area used for agriculture recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 60.8% in 2023.
- How does Ireland rank for share of land area used for agriculture?
- Ireland ranks 37th out of 209 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of land area used for agriculture rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 6.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ireland data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of land area used for agriculture. 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).
About this data
The share of land area used for agriculture, measured as a percentage of total land area. Agricultural land refers to the share of land area that is arable, under permanent crops, and under permanent pastures.