Agricultural land — Share in Land area in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Agricultural land — Share in Land area was 69.21 % in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
69.21 %
Change on year
down 1.6%
World rank
23rd
of 220 countries
All-time high
81.84 %
in 1961
All-time low
69.21 %
in 2024
Years of data
64
1961–2024

Agricultural land — Share in Land area in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 1961–2024

020406080196119922024

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.

Analysis

In 2024, agricultural land — share in land area in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland stood at 69.21 %. That is the lowest value across all 64 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.6% on the previous year and down 2.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, agricultural land — share in land area in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland peaked at 81.84 % in 1961 and was at its lowest, 69.21 %, in 2024.

That places United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 23rd out of 220 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 64 years of available data.

Agricultural land — Share in Land area in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, year by year

Annual values for Agricultural land — Share in Land area in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 1961 to 2024.
Year % Change
1961 81.84 %
1962 81.76 % -0.1%
1963 81.62 % -0.2%
1964 81.44 % -0.2%
1965 80.95 % -0.6%
1966 80.81 % -0.2%
1967 80.83 % +0.0%
1968 80.3 % -0.7%
1969 80.11 % -0.2%
1970 77.91 % -2.7%
1971 77.89 % -0.0%
1972 77.53 % -0.5%
1973 77.28 % -0.3%
1974 77.04 % -0.3%
1975 76.81 % -0.3%
1976 76.75 % -0.1%
1977 76.43 % -0.4%
1978 76.38 % -0.1%
1979 76.27 % -0.1%
1980 76.34 % +0.1%
1981 75.72 % -0.8%
1982 75.56 % -0.2%
1983 75.29 % -0.4%
1984 75.24 % -0.1%
1985 75.1 % -0.2%
1986 74.94 % -0.2%
1987 74.88 % -0.1%
1988 76.15 % +1.7%
1989 75.67 % -0.6%
1990 75.24 % -0.6%
1991 74.99 % -0.3%
1992 74.69 % -0.4%
1993 72.48 % -3.0%
1994 71.96 % -0.7%
1995 71.83 % -0.2%
1996 72.31 % +0.7%
1997 72.69 % +0.5%
1998 72.41 % -0.4%
1999 71.17 % -1.7%
2000 70.12 % -1.5%
2001 70.07 % -0.1%
2002 70.17 % +0.1%
2003 70.09 % -0.1%
2004 70.48 % +0.6%
2005 70.09 % -0.6%
2006 73.73 % +5.2%
2007 72.94 % -1.1%
2008 73.1 % +0.2%
2009 71.61 % -2.0%
2010 71.19 % -0.6%
2011 70.95 % -0.3%
2012 71.02 % +0.1%
2013 71.3 % +0.4%
2014 71.23 % -0.1%
2015 70.84 % -0.5%
2016 71.71 % +1.2%
2017 72.2 % +0.7%
2018 71.72 % -0.7%
2019 72.42 % +1.0%
2020 71.34 % -1.5%
2021 71.16 % -0.3%
2022 71.98 % +1.2%
2023 70.31 % -2.3%
2024 69.21 % -1.6%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 81.07 % 80.11 % 81.84 % 9
1970s 77.03 % 76.27 % 77.91 % 10
1980s 75.49 % 74.88 % 76.34 % 10
1990s 72.98 % 71.17 % 75.24 % 10
2000s 71.24 % 70.07 % 73.73 % 10
2010s 71.46 % 70.84 % 72.42 % 10
2020s 70.8 % 69.21 % 71.98 % 5

Countries ranked near United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

  1. 20 Lao People's Democratic Republic 9.54 % compare
  2. 20 Somalia 70.34 % compare
  3. 21 Faroe Islands 70.12 % compare
  4. 21 Micronesia (Federated States of) 7.71 % compare
  5. 22 Eswatini 69.61 % compare
  6. 22 Melanesia 4.11 % compare
  7. 24 Togo 69.08 % compare
  8. 25 Mongolia 68.81 % compare
  9. 26 Isle of Man 68.27 % compare

See the full ranking of 273 places →

More environment data for United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

All data for United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland →

Frequently asked questions

What is agricultural land — share in land area in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
Agricultural land — share in land area in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was 69.21 % in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest agricultural land — share in land area recorded in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
The highest recorded value was 81.84 % in 1961.
What is the lowest agricultural land — share in land area recorded in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
The lowest recorded value was 69.21 % in 2024.
How does United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland rank for agricultural land — share in land area?
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ranks 23rd out of 220 countries with data for 2024.
Is agricultural land — share in land area rising or falling in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
Over the last ten years it is down 2.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 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).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Agricultural land — Share in Land area in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 16 September 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/agricultural-land-share-in-land-area/united-kingdom-of-great-britain-and-northern-ireland/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/agricultural-land-share-in-land-area/united-kingdom-of-great-britain-and-northern-ireland/">Agricultural land — Share in Land area in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Agricultural land — Share in Land area
Unit
%
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
273 places, 16,066 data points, 1961–2024
Last refreshed

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.