Arable land — Area in Africa
Africa: Arable land — Area was 266,831 1000 ha in 2024. ▲ Rising
Arable land — Area in Africa, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.
Analysis
The most recent figure for arable land — area in Africa is 266,831 1000 ha, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 64 years on record.
The figure is up 0.3% on the previous year and up 7.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, arable land — area in Africa peaked at 266,831 1000 ha in 2024 and was at its lowest, 151,594 1000 ha, in 1961.
That places Africa 6th out of 36 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 156,381 1000 ha | 151,594 1000 ha | 161,010 1000 ha | 9 |
| 1970s | 165,552 1000 ha | 161,464 1000 ha | 169,203 1000 ha | 10 |
| 1980s | 173,942 1000 ha | 169,644 1000 ha | 179,098 1000 ha | 10 |
| 1990s | 194,902 1000 ha | 181,156 1000 ha | 205,806 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 217,445 1000 ha | 206,279 1000 ha | 229,869 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 249,862 1000 ha | 236,770 1000 ha | 261,192 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 264,047 1000 ha | 260,620 1000 ha | 266,831 1000 ha | 5 |
Countries ranked near Africa
More environment data for Africa
- Nutrient potash K2O (total) — Use per value of agricultural production 2.45 g/Int$ (2024)
- Nutrient potash K2O (total) — Import quantity 1.30 million t (2024)
- Nutrient potash K2O (total) — Agricultural Use 1.05 million t (2024)
- Nutrient potash K2O (total) — Use per area of cropland 3.23 kg/ha (2024)
- Nutrient potash K2O (total) — Use per capita 0.69 kg/cap (2024)
- Land area — Area 2.99 million 1000 ha (2024)
- Agricultural land — Area 1.19 million 1000 ha (2024)
- Agriculture — Area 1.19 million 1000 ha (2024)
- Nutrient phosphate P2O5 (total) — Use per value of agricultural 4.58 g/Int$ (2024)
- Country area — Area 3.04 million 1000 ha (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is arable land — area in Africa?
- Arable land — area in Africa was 266,831 1000 ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest arable land — area recorded in Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 266,831 1000 ha in 2024.
- What is the lowest arable land — area recorded in Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 151,594 1000 ha in 1961.
- How does Africa rank for arable land — area?
- Africa ranks 6th out of 36 groups with data for 2024.
- Is arable land — area rising or falling in Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.5%. 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 Arable 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.