Agricultural land — Share in Land area in Africa
Africa: Agricultural land — Share in Land area was 39.6 % in 2024. ▲ Rising
Agricultural land — Share in Land area in Africa, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
Africa recorded 39.6 % for agricultural land — share in land area in 2024. That is the highest value across all 64 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.1% on the previous year and up 2.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, agricultural land — share in land area in Africa peaked at 39.6 % in 2024 and was at its lowest, 34.42 %, in 1961.
Africa ranks 20th of 31 groups on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 34.51 % | 34.42 % | 34.66 % | 9 |
| 1970s | 34.91 % | 34.69 % | 35.09 % | 10 |
| 1980s | 35.38 % | 35.05 % | 35.89 % | 10 |
| 1990s | 36.33 % | 35.89 % | 36.87 % | 10 |
| 2000s | 37.5 % | 36.98 % | 38.03 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 38.79 % | 38.33 % | 39.28 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 39.47 % | 39.31 % | 39.6 % | 5 |
Countries ranked near Africa
- 17 Bangladesh 72.21 % compare
- 18 Ukraine 71.3 % compare
- 19 Madagascar 70.36 % compare
- 20 Somalia 70.34 % compare
- 21 Faroe Islands 70.12 % compare
- 22 Eswatini 69.61 % compare
- 23 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 69.21 % compare
More environment data for Africa
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -7.12 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -7.93 Percentage change (2025)
- Temperature change 1.32 °C (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.213 °C (2025)
- Primary wood and paper products (export/import) — Export value 5.54 million 1000 USD (2024)
- Roundwood, coniferous — Production 32.26 million m3 (2024)
- Roundwood — Export value 714,851 1000 USD (2024)
- Roundwood — Export quantity 3.78 million m3 (2024)
- Roundwood — Import value 182,147 1000 USD (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is agricultural land — share in land area in Africa?
- Agricultural land — share in land area in Africa was 39.6 % in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest agricultural land — share in land area recorded in Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 39.6 % in 2024.
- What is the lowest agricultural land — share in land area recorded in Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 34.42 % in 1961.
- How does Africa rank for agricultural land — share in land area?
- Africa ranks 20th out of 31 groups with data for 2024.
- Is agricultural land — share in land area rising or falling in Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Agricultural land — Share in Land area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 64 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
The FAOSTAT Land Use domain contains data on twenty-one land use categories and twenty-three categories of irrigation and agricultural practices. Data are available yearly and by country, regional and global levels. The domain includes Land Use Indicators providing information on the percentage share of agricultural and forest land, and their sub-components, including irrigated areas and areas under organic agriculture, within a country land use matrix. Data are available at country, regional and global level, for the following elements: (in percentage) i) Share in Land area; ii) Share in Agricultural land, iii) Share in Cropland; and iv) Share in Forest land; (in ha/pc) v) Area per capita.