Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Somalia
Somalia: Share of land area used for arable agriculture was 1.8% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Somalia, 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
Somalia recorded 1.8% for share of land area used for arable agriculture in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of land area used for arable agriculture in Somalia peaked at 1.8% in 2004 and was at its lowest, 1.4%, in 1961.
Somalia ranks 175th of 206 countries on this measure, 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 Somalia, year by year
| Year | % of land area | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 1.4% | — |
| 1962 | 1.4% | +0.6% |
| 1963 | 1.4% | +0.6% |
| 1964 | 1.4% | +0.6% |
| 1965 | 1.5% | +0.6% |
| 1966 | 1.5% | +0.5% |
| 1967 | 1.5% | +0.5% |
| 1968 | 1.5% | +0.5% |
| 1969 | 1.5% | +0.5% |
| 1970 | 1.5% | +0.5% |
| 1971 | 1.5% | +0.5% |
| 1972 | 1.5% | +0.5% |
| 1973 | 1.5% | +0.5% |
| 1974 | 1.5% | +0.4% |
| 1975 | 1.5% | +0.5% |
| 1976 | 1.5% | +0.5% |
| 1977 | 1.5% | +0.4% |
| 1978 | 1.6% | +0.5% |
| 1979 | 1.6% | +0.5% |
| 1980 | 1.6% | +0.5% |
| 1981 | 1.6% | +0.5% |
| 1982 | 1.6% | +0.5% |
| 1983 | 1.6% | +0.5% |
| 1984 | 1.6% | +0.5% |
| 1985 | 1.6% | +0.5% |
| 1986 | 1.6% | +0.5% |
| 1987 | 1.6% | +0.4% |
| 1988 | 1.6% | +0.3% |
| 1989 | 1.6% | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 1.6% | +0.1% |
| 1991 | 1.6% | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 1.6% | +0.1% |
| 1993 | 1.6% | +0.1% |
| 1994 | 1.6% | +0.6% |
| 1995 | 1.6% | +0.5% |
| 1996 | 1.7% | +0.4% |
| 1997 | 1.7% | +0.4% |
| 1998 | 1.7% | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 1.7% | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 1.7% | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 1.7% | +0.2% |
| 2002 | 1.7% | +1.8% |
| 2003 | 1.7% | +1.8% |
| 2004 | 1.8% | +4.3% |
| 2005 | 1.8% | -2.7% |
| 2006 | 1.7% | -4.5% |
| 2007 | 1.6% | -4.8% |
| 2008 | 1.8% | +10.0% |
| 2009 | 1.8% | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 1.8% | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 1.6% | -9.1% |
| 2012 | 1.6% | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 1.8% | +10.0% |
| 2014 | 1.8% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 1.8% | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 1.8% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 1.8% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 1.8% | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 1.8% | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 1.8% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 1.8% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 1.8% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 1.8% | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.5% | 1.4% | 1.5% | 9 |
| 1970s | 1.5% | 1.5% | 1.6% | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1.6% | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1.7% | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.7% | 1.6% | 1.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.7% | 1.6% | 1.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.8% | 1.8% | 1.8% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Somalia
More agriculture & rural data for Somalia
- Rural population, per capita 0.4486 units per person (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual -13.31 % change on previous year (1990)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.5579 current US$ per US$ of GDP (1990)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 81.24 current US$ per person (1990)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0007 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 2.21 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 7.1% (1982)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 55.8% (1990)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 55.8% (1990)
- Rural population 8.82 million (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of land area used for arable agriculture in Somalia?
- Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Somalia was 1.8% 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 arable agriculture recorded in Somalia?
- The highest recorded value was 1.8% in 2004.
- What is the lowest share of land area used for arable agriculture recorded in Somalia?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.4% in 1961.
- How does Somalia rank for share of land area used for arable agriculture?
- Somalia ranks 175th out of 206 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of land area used for arable agriculture rising or falling in Somalia?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Somalia 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.