Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe: Share of land area used for arable agriculture was 10.4% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Zimbabwe, 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 Zimbabwe stood at 10.4%.
That represents a change of down 0.1% on the previous year and down 0.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of land area used for arable agriculture in Zimbabwe peaked at 11.0% in 2008 and was at its lowest, 2.5%, in 1961.
That places Zimbabwe 99th 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 Zimbabwe, year by year
| Year | % of land area | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 2.5% | — |
| 1962 | 2.6% | +3.8% |
| 1963 | 2.8% | +6.3% |
| 1964 | 2.9% | +3.1% |
| 1965 | 3.0% | +3.9% |
| 1966 | 2.9% | -1.7% |
| 1967 | 3.1% | +5.9% |
| 1968 | 3.2% | +1.6% |
| 1969 | 3.4% | +7.2% |
| 1970 | 3.6% | +4.8% |
| 1971 | 3.8% | +6.0% |
| 1972 | 4.0% | +7.0% |
| 1973 | 4.2% | +3.7% |
| 1974 | 4.4% | +5.6% |
| 1975 | 4.6% | +3.3% |
| 1976 | 4.7% | +2.5% |
| 1977 | 4.9% | +4.9% |
| 1978 | 5.0% | +1.2% |
| 1979 | 5.1% | +2.2% |
| 1980 | 5.3% | +3.8% |
| 1981 | 5.6% | +6.0% |
| 1982 | 5.8% | +3.9% |
| 1983 | 6.3% | +7.9% |
| 1984 | 6.4% | +2.4% |
| 1985 | 6.6% | +2.2% |
| 1986 | 6.9% | +4.6% |
| 1987 | 6.6% | -3.7% |
| 1988 | 6.8% | +3.6% |
| 1989 | 7.5% | +8.9% |
| 1990 | 7.7% | +4.0% |
| 1991 | 7.9% | +1.9% |
| 1992 | 7.2% | -8.3% |
| 1993 | 7.5% | +3.5% |
| 1994 | 8.2% | +9.2% |
| 1995 | 8.1% | -0.7% |
| 1996 | 8.6% | +5.8% |
| 1997 | 8.4% | -2.0% |
| 1998 | 8.4% | -0.6% |
| 1999 | 8.9% | +6.7% |
| 2000 | 9.6% | +7.1% |
| 2001 | 9.3% | -2.7% |
| 2002 | 9.4% | +1.4% |
| 2003 | 9.4% | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 9.8% | +4.1% |
| 2005 | 10.1% | +2.6% |
| 2006 | 10.6% | +5.1% |
| 2007 | 10.3% | -2.4% |
| 2008 | 11.0% | +6.3% |
| 2009 | 10.6% | -3.5% |
| 2010 | 10.3% | -2.4% |
| 2011 | 10.9% | +5.0% |
| 2012 | 10.5% | -3.5% |
| 2013 | 10.5% | -0.1% |
| 2014 | 10.5% | -0.1% |
| 2015 | 10.5% | -0.1% |
| 2016 | 10.4% | -0.1% |
| 2017 | 10.4% | -0.1% |
| 2018 | 10.4% | -0.1% |
| 2019 | 10.4% | -0.1% |
| 2020 | 10.4% | -0.1% |
| 2021 | 10.4% | -0.1% |
| 2022 | 10.4% | -0.1% |
| 2023 | 10.4% | -0.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 2.9% | 2.5% | 3.4% | 9 |
| 1970s | 4.4% | 3.6% | 5.1% | 10 |
| 1980s | 6.4% | 5.3% | 7.5% | 10 |
| 1990s | 8.1% | 7.2% | 8.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 10.0% | 9.3% | 11.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 10.5% | 10.3% | 10.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 10.4% | 10.4% | 10.4% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Zimbabwe
More agriculture & rural data for Zimbabwe
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 34.41 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0947 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 286.19 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 0.8815 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0002 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.595 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 9.5% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 9.5% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.9% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.3% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of land area used for arable agriculture in Zimbabwe?
- Share of land area used for arable agriculture in Zimbabwe was 10.4% 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 Zimbabwe?
- The highest recorded value was 11.0% in 2008.
- What is the lowest share of land area used for arable agriculture recorded in Zimbabwe?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.5% in 1961.
- How does Zimbabwe rank for share of land area used for arable agriculture?
- Zimbabwe ranks 99th out of 206 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of land area used for arable agriculture rising or falling in Zimbabwe?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Zimbabwe 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.