Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Mauritania
Mauritania: Share of land area used for arable agriculture was 0.4% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Mauritania, 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 arable agriculture in Mauritania is 0.4%, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 63 years on record.
That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of land area used for arable agriculture in Mauritania peaked at 0.4% in 1994 and was at its lowest, 0.2%, in 1975.
That places Mauritania 199th out of 206 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.
Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Mauritania, year by year
| Year | % of land area | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 0.3% | — |
| 1962 | 0.3% | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 0.3% | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 0.3% | -0.4% |
| 1965 | 0.3% | -0.4% |
| 1966 | 0.3% | +0.4% |
| 1967 | 0.3% | +0.4% |
| 1968 | 0.3% | +0.4% |
| 1969 | 0.3% | +3.7% |
| 1970 | 0.3% | +0.0% |
| 1971 | 0.2% | -14.0% |
| 1972 | 0.2% | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 0.2% | -5.4% |
| 1974 | 0.2% | -13.3% |
| 1975 | 0.2% | -2.0% |
| 1976 | 0.2% | +1.6% |
| 1977 | 0.2% | +0.5% |
| 1978 | 0.2% | -2.0% |
| 1979 | 0.2% | +1.6% |
| 1980 | 0.2% | +7.7% |
| 1981 | 0.2% | +9.5% |
| 1982 | 0.2% | +8.7% |
| 1983 | 0.3% | +8.0% |
| 1984 | 0.3% | +3.7% |
| 1985 | 0.3% | +7.1% |
| 1986 | 0.3% | +6.7% |
| 1987 | 0.3% | +6.2% |
| 1988 | 0.3% | +5.9% |
| 1989 | 0.4% | +5.6% |
| 1990 | 0.4% | +5.3% |
| 1991 | 0.4% | +2.5% |
| 1992 | 0.4% | +2.4% |
| 1993 | 0.4% | +2.6% |
| 1994 | 0.4% | +4.4% |
| 1995 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 0.4% | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Mauritania
More agriculture & rural data for Mauritania
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 10.81 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.1995 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 438.46 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 0.5156 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0002 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.3851 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 20.0% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 20.0% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.2% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.3% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of land area used for arable agriculture in Mauritania?
- Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Mauritania was 0.4% 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 Mauritania?
- The highest recorded value was 0.4% in 1994.
- What is the lowest share of land area used for arable agriculture recorded in Mauritania?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2% in 1975.
- How does Mauritania rank for share of land area used for arable agriculture?
- Mauritania ranks 199th out of 206 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of land area used for arable agriculture rising or falling in Mauritania?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Mauritania 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.