Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Botswana
Botswana: Share of land area used for arable agriculture was 0.5% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Botswana, 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
In 2023, share of land area used for arable agriculture in Botswana stood at 0.5%.
The figure is down 7.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of land area used for arable agriculture in Botswana peaked at 0.7% in 1990 and was at its lowest, 0.3%, in 2007.
Botswana ranks 197th of 206 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Botswana, year by year
| Year | % of land area | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 0.7% | — |
| 1962 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 0.7% | +0.3% |
| 1966 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1967 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1971 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 0.7% | +0.3% |
| 1973 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 0.7% | +0.5% |
| 1980 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 0.7% | +0.5% |
| 1983 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 0.7% | +0.5% |
| 1986 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 0.7% | +0.5% |
| 1988 | 0.7% | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 0.7% | +1.2% |
| 1990 | 0.7% | +1.4% |
| 1991 | 0.5% | -28.6% |
| 1992 | 0.4% | -16.7% |
| 1993 | 0.6% | +40.0% |
| 1994 | 0.7% | +12.9% |
| 1995 | 0.6% | -12.7% |
| 1996 | 0.6% | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 0.5% | -13.0% |
| 1998 | 0.4% | -23.3% |
| 1999 | 0.4% | +4.3% |
| 2000 | 0.6% | +45.8% |
| 2001 | 0.4% | -42.9% |
| 2002 | 0.4% | +22.5% |
| 2003 | 0.3% | -20.4% |
| 2004 | 0.4% | +15.9% |
| 2005 | 0.4% | -5.5% |
| 2006 | 0.4% | -5.9% |
| 2007 | 0.3% | -9.5% |
| 2008 | 0.5% | +53.3% |
| 2009 | 0.6% | +13.3% |
| 2010 | 0.5% | -18.0% |
| 2011 | 0.6% | +25.1% |
| 2012 | 0.5% | -12.0% |
| 2013 | 0.5% | -1.8% |
| 2014 | 0.7% | +43.6% |
| 2015 | 0.5% | -35.4% |
| 2016 | 0.5% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 0.5% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 0.5% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 0.5% | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 0.5% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 0.5% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 0.5% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 0.5% | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.6% | 0.4% | 0.7% | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Botswana
More agriculture & rural data for Botswana
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 4.45 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0178 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 138.54 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 0.0839 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.3204 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 1.8% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 1.8% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.0% (2023)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.8% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of land area used for arable agriculture in Botswana?
- Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Botswana was 0.5% 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 arable agriculture recorded in Botswana?
- The highest recorded value was 0.7% in 1990.
- What is the lowest share of land area used for arable agriculture recorded in Botswana?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3% in 2007.
- How does Botswana rank for share of land area used for arable agriculture?
- Botswana ranks 197th out of 206 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of land area used for arable agriculture rising or falling in Botswana?
- Over the last ten years it is down 7.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Botswana 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 arable 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 arable agriculture, measured as a percentage of total land area. Arable land includes land defined by the FAO as land under temporary crops (double-cropped areas are counted once), temporary meadows for mowing or for pasture, land under market or kitchen gardens, and land temporarily fallow.