Arable land — Area in Southern Europe

Southern Europe: Arable land — Area was 26,020 1000 ha in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
26,020 1000 ha
Change on year
down 0.8%
Rank
28th
of 32 groups
All-time high
42,582 1000 ha
in 1962
All-time low
26,020 1000 ha
in 2024
Years of data
64
1961–2024

Arable land — Area in Southern Europe, 1961–2024

010.0k20.0k30.0k40.0k196119922024

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.

Analysis

Southern Europe recorded 26,020 1000 ha for arable land — area in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 64 years on record.

The figure is down 0.8% on the previous year and down 7.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, arable land — area in Southern Europe peaked at 42,582 1000 ha in 1962 and was at its lowest, 26,020 1000 ha, in 2024.

That places Southern Europe 28th out of 32 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.

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

Arable land — Area in Southern Europe, year by year

Annual values for Arable land — Area in Southern Europe, 1961 to 2024.
Year 1000 ha Change
1961 42,552 1000 ha —
1962 42,582 1000 ha +0.1%
1963 42,553 1000 ha -0.1%
1964 42,123 1000 ha -1.0%
1965 42,058 1000 ha -0.2%
1966 41,496 1000 ha -1.3%
1967 41,706 1000 ha +0.5%
1968 41,636 1000 ha -0.2%
1969 41,860 1000 ha +0.5%
1970 41,189 1000 ha -1.6%
1971 39,319 1000 ha -4.5%
1972 39,109 1000 ha -0.5%
1973 38,702 1000 ha -1.0%
1974 38,566 1000 ha -0.4%
1975 38,406 1000 ha -0.4%
1976 38,233 1000 ha -0.5%
1977 38,120 1000 ha -0.3%
1978 38,250 1000 ha +0.3%
1979 38,182 1000 ha -0.2%
1980 38,120 1000 ha -0.2%
1981 38,107 1000 ha -0.0%
1982 38,068 1000 ha -0.1%
1983 37,706 1000 ha -1.0%
1984 37,725 1000 ha +0.1%
1985 37,552 1000 ha -0.5%
1986 37,574 1000 ha +0.1%
1987 37,551 1000 ha -0.1%
1988 37,423 1000 ha -0.3%
1989 37,400 1000 ha -0.1%
1990 37,163 1000 ha -0.6%
1991 36,837 1000 ha -0.9%
1992 36,271 1000 ha -1.5%
1993 35,645 1000 ha -1.7%
1994 35,251 1000 ha -1.1%
1995 34,392 1000 ha -2.4%
1996 34,576 1000 ha +0.5%
1997 34,162 1000 ha -1.2%
1998 33,677 1000 ha -1.4%
1999 33,252 1000 ha -1.3%
2000 32,854 1000 ha -1.2%
2001 32,260 1000 ha -1.8%
2002 31,876 1000 ha -1.2%
2003 31,747 1000 ha -0.4%
2004 31,608 1000 ha -0.4%
2005 31,213 1000 ha -1.2%
2006 29,811 1000 ha -4.5%
2007 29,331 1000 ha -1.6%
2008 29,692 1000 ha +1.2%
2009 29,102 1000 ha -2.0%
2010 29,255 1000 ha +0.5%
2011 28,683 1000 ha -2.0%
2012 29,017 1000 ha +1.2%
2013 28,366 1000 ha -2.2%
2014 28,007 1000 ha -1.3%
2015 27,857 1000 ha -0.5%
2016 27,893 1000 ha +0.1%
2017 27,825 1000 ha -0.2%
2018 27,356 1000 ha -1.7%
2019 27,498 1000 ha +0.5%
2020 27,337 1000 ha -0.6%
2021 27,217 1000 ha -0.4%
2022 26,610 1000 ha -2.2%
2023 26,236 1000 ha -1.4%
2024 26,020 1000 ha -0.8%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 42,063 1000 ha 41,496 1000 ha 42,582 1000 ha 9
1970s 38,807 1000 ha 38,120 1000 ha 41,189 1000 ha 10
1980s 37,722 1000 ha 37,400 1000 ha 38,120 1000 ha 10
1990s 35,122 1000 ha 33,252 1000 ha 37,163 1000 ha 10
2000s 30,949 1000 ha 29,102 1000 ha 32,854 1000 ha 10
2010s 28,176 1000 ha 27,356 1000 ha 29,255 1000 ha 10
2020s 26,684 1000 ha 26,020 1000 ha 27,337 1000 ha 5

Countries ranked near Southern Europe

  1. 25 France 16,882 1000 ha compare
  2. 26 Democratic Republic of the Congo 16,516 1000 ha compare
  3. 27 Ethiopia 16,400 1000 ha compare
  4. 28 Thailand 15,729 1000 ha compare
  5. 29 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 15,699 1000 ha compare
  6. 30 United Republic of Tanzania 13,702 1000 ha compare
  7. 31 South Africa 12,000 1000 ha compare

See the full ranking of 281 places →

More environment data for Southern Europe

All data for Southern Europe →

Frequently asked questions

What is arable land — area in Southern Europe?
Arable land — area in Southern Europe was 26,020 1000 ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest arable land — area recorded in Southern Europe?
The highest recorded value was 42,582 1000 ha in 1962.
What is the lowest arable land — area recorded in Southern Europe?
The lowest recorded value was 26,020 1000 ha in 2024.
How does Southern Europe rank for arable land — area?
Southern Europe ranks 28th out of 32 groups with data for 2024.
Is arable land — area rising or falling in Southern Europe?
Over the last ten years it is down 7.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Southern Europe 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).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Arable land — Area in Southern Europe. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 28 September 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/arable-land-area/southern-europe/

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/arable-land-area/southern-europe/">Arable land — Area in Southern Europe</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Arable land — Area
Unit
1000 ha
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
281 places, 16,508 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.