Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Maldives
Maldives: Share of land area used for arable agriculture was 13.4% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Maldives, 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
Maldives recorded 13.4% for share of land area used for arable agriculture in 2023. That is the highest value across all 63 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 3.3% on the previous year and up 3.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of land area used for arable agriculture in Maldives peaked at 13.4% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 6.7%, in 1961.
That places Maldives 78th out of 206 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.
Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Maldives, year by year
| Year | % of land area | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 6.7% | — |
| 1962 | 6.7% | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 6.7% | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 6.7% | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 6.7% | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 6.7% | +0.0% |
| 1967 | 6.7% | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 6.7% | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 6.7% | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 6.7% | +0.0% |
| 1971 | 10.0% | +50.0% |
| 1972 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 10.0% | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 13.0% | +30.0% |
| 2011 | 13.0% | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 13.0% | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 13.0% | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 13.0% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 13.0% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 13.0% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 13.0% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 13.0% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 13.0% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 13.0% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 13.0% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 13.0% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 13.4% | +3.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 6.7% | 6.7% | 6.7% | 9 |
| 1970s | 9.7% | 6.7% | 10.0% | 10 |
| 1980s | 10.0% | 10.0% | 10.0% | 10 |
| 1990s | 10.0% | 10.0% | 10.0% | 10 |
| 2000s | 10.0% | 10.0% | 10.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 13.0% | 13.0% | 13.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 13.1% | 13.0% | 13.4% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Maldives
More agriculture & rural data for Maldives
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 30.99 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0459 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 670.93 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate -0.5233 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.5749 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 4.6% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 4.6% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.0% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.3% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of land area used for arable agriculture in Maldives?
- Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Maldives was 13.4% 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 Maldives?
- The highest recorded value was 13.4% in 2023.
- What is the lowest share of land area used for arable agriculture recorded in Maldives?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.7% in 1961.
- How does Maldives rank for share of land area used for arable agriculture?
- Maldives ranks 78th out of 206 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of land area used for arable agriculture rising or falling in Maldives?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Maldives 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.