Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Yemen
Yemen: Share of land area used for arable agriculture was 2.2% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Yemen, 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
Yemen recorded 2.2% for share of land area used for arable agriculture in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 3.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of land area used for arable agriculture in Yemen peaked at 3.1% in 1996 and was at its lowest, 2.1%, in 2016.
That places Yemen 168th out of 206 countries with data for 2023, putting it 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 Yemen, year by year
| Year | % of land area | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 2.4% | — |
| 1962 | 2.4% | +0.9% |
| 1963 | 2.4% | +0.9% |
| 1964 | 2.5% | +0.8% |
| 1965 | 2.5% | +0.8% |
| 1966 | 2.5% | +0.4% |
| 1967 | 2.5% | +0.5% |
| 1968 | 2.5% | +0.4% |
| 1969 | 2.5% | +0.4% |
| 1970 | 2.5% | +0.4% |
| 1971 | 2.5% | +0.6% |
| 1972 | 2.5% | +0.4% |
| 1973 | 2.6% | +0.4% |
| 1974 | 2.6% | +0.4% |
| 1975 | 2.6% | +0.6% |
| 1976 | 2.6% | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 2.6% | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 2.6% | +0.1% |
| 1979 | 2.6% | +0.1% |
| 1980 | 2.6% | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 2.6% | +0.1% |
| 1982 | 2.6% | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 2.6% | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 2.6% | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 2.6% | +0.3% |
| 1986 | 2.6% | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 2.6% | +0.3% |
| 1988 | 2.6% | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 2.6% | +0.1% |
| 1990 | 2.9% | +10.5% |
| 1991 | 2.9% | +0.3% |
| 1992 | 2.6% | -9.8% |
| 1993 | 3.1% | +17.7% |
| 1994 | 3.1% | +0.3% |
| 1995 | 3.1% | +0.4% |
| 1996 | 3.1% | +0.9% |
| 1997 | 3.0% | -2.4% |
| 1998 | 3.0% | -2.7% |
| 1999 | 2.9% | -1.1% |
| 2000 | 2.9% | -0.1% |
| 2001 | 2.8% | -5.1% |
| 2002 | 2.7% | -3.5% |
| 2003 | 2.4% | -11.5% |
| 2004 | 2.5% | +5.8% |
| 2005 | 2.4% | -2.9% |
| 2006 | 2.6% | +6.8% |
| 2007 | 2.6% | -0.7% |
| 2008 | 2.4% | -8.8% |
| 2009 | 2.2% | -5.9% |
| 2010 | 2.4% | +10.2% |
| 2011 | 2.2% | -10.1% |
| 2012 | 2.3% | +3.7% |
| 2013 | 2.3% | -0.2% |
| 2014 | 2.2% | -3.9% |
| 2015 | 2.2% | -1.4% |
| 2016 | 2.1% | -3.7% |
| 2017 | 2.2% | +6.1% |
| 2018 | 2.2% | +0.3% |
| 2019 | 2.2% | -0.8% |
| 2020 | 2.2% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 2.2% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 2.2% | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 2.2% | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 2.5% | 2.4% | 2.5% | 9 |
| 1970s | 2.6% | 2.5% | 2.6% | 10 |
| 1980s | 2.6% | 2.6% | 2.6% | 10 |
| 1990s | 3.0% | 2.6% | 3.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.5% | 2.2% | 2.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.2% | 2.1% | 2.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.2% | 2.2% | 2.2% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Yemen
More agriculture & rural data for Yemen
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual -14.18 % change on previous year (2018)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.2875 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2018)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 182.21 current US$ per person (2018)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 2.57 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.001 units per US$ of GDP (2018)
- Rural population, per capita 0.6297 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 28.7% (2018)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 28.7% (2018)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.0% (2019)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.6% (2019)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of land area used for arable agriculture in Yemen?
- Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Yemen was 2.2% 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 Yemen?
- The highest recorded value was 3.1% in 1996.
- What is the lowest share of land area used for arable agriculture recorded in Yemen?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.1% in 2016.
- How does Yemen rank for share of land area used for arable agriculture?
- Yemen ranks 168th out of 206 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of land area used for arable agriculture rising or falling in Yemen?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Yemen 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.