Arable land — Area in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Arable land — Area was 1,372 1000 ha in 2024. ▲ Rising
Arable land — Area in Sri Lanka, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.
Analysis
Sri Lanka recorded 1,372 1000 ha for arable land — area in 2024. That is the highest value across all 64 years on record.
That represents a change of up 5.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, arable land — area in Sri Lanka peaked at 1,372 1000 ha in 2020 and was at its lowest, 577 1000 ha, in 1962.
Sri Lanka ranks 110th of 248 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Arable land — Area in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | 1000 ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 595 1000 ha | — |
| 1962 | 577 1000 ha | -3.0% |
| 1963 | 792 1000 ha | +37.3% |
| 1964 | 790 1000 ha | -0.3% |
| 1965 | 793 1000 ha | +0.4% |
| 1966 | 792 1000 ha | -0.1% |
| 1967 | 792 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 798 1000 ha | +0.8% |
| 1969 | 804 1000 ha | +0.8% |
| 1970 | 810 1000 ha | +0.7% |
| 1971 | 816 1000 ha | +0.7% |
| 1972 | 822 1000 ha | +0.7% |
| 1973 | 828 1000 ha | +0.7% |
| 1974 | 834 1000 ha | +0.7% |
| 1975 | 889.7 1000 ha | +6.7% |
| 1976 | 925.1 1000 ha | +4.0% |
| 1977 | 963.3 1000 ha | +4.1% |
| 1978 | 999.7 1000 ha | +3.8% |
| 1979 | 891.5 1000 ha | -10.8% |
| 1980 | 852.2 1000 ha | -4.4% |
| 1981 | 880.3 1000 ha | +3.3% |
| 1982 | 853.6 1000 ha | -3.0% |
| 1983 | 869.8 1000 ha | +1.9% |
| 1984 | 879 1000 ha | +1.1% |
| 1985 | 861.8 1000 ha | -2.0% |
| 1986 | 866 1000 ha | +0.5% |
| 1987 | 876.4 1000 ha | +1.2% |
| 1988 | 878.8 1000 ha | +0.3% |
| 1989 | 880.9 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 1990 | 889.3 1000 ha | +1.0% |
| 1991 | 891.7 1000 ha | +0.3% |
| 1992 | 879.1 1000 ha | -1.4% |
| 1993 | 875.2 1000 ha | -0.4% |
| 1994 | 885.8 1000 ha | +1.2% |
| 1995 | 887.5 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 1996 | 881 1000 ha | -0.7% |
| 1997 | 879.5 1000 ha | -0.2% |
| 1998 | 880.2 1000 ha | +0.1% |
| 1999 | 885.7 1000 ha | +0.6% |
| 2000 | 900.4 1000 ha | +1.7% |
| 2001 | 900.7 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 920.4 1000 ha | +2.2% |
| 2003 | 950 1000 ha | +3.2% |
| 2004 | 900 1000 ha | -5.3% |
| 2005 | 1,100 1000 ha | +22.2% |
| 2006 | 1,050 1000 ha | -4.5% |
| 2007 | 1,000 1000 ha | -4.8% |
| 2008 | 1,200 1000 ha | +20.0% |
| 2009 | 1,200 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 1,200 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 1,300 1000 ha | +8.3% |
| 2012 | 1,300 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 1,300 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 1,300 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 1,300 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 1,310 1000 ha | +0.8% |
| 2017 | 1,320 1000 ha | +0.8% |
| 2018 | 1,372 1000 ha | +3.9% |
| 2019 | 1,372 1000 ha | -0.0% |
| 2020 | 1,372 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 1,372 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 1,372 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 1,372 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 1,372 1000 ha | +0.0% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 1,372 1000 ha is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 1,083 1000 ha, 1.3× the median. (54 countries reporting)
- Sri Lanka's 1,372 1000 ha is below the median for South Asia, which is 1,588 1000 ha, 86% of the median. (6 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Arable land — Area in Sri Lanka changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | +37.3% | 577 1000 ha | 792 1000 ha |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 748.11 1000 ha | 577 1000 ha | 804 1000 ha | 9 |
| 1970s | 877.93 1000 ha | 810 1000 ha | 999.7 1000 ha | 10 |
| 1980s | 869.88 1000 ha | 852.2 1000 ha | 880.9 1000 ha | 10 |
| 1990s | 883.5 1000 ha | 875.2 1000 ha | 891.7 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 1,012 1000 ha | 900 1000 ha | 1,200 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 1,307 1000 ha | 1,200 1000 ha | 1,372 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 1,372 1000 ha | 1,372 1000 ha | 1,372 1000 ha | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More environment data for Sri Lanka
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 5.24 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 5.49 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.207 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 0.849 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 5.63 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate 1.22 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is arable land — area in Sri Lanka?
- Arable land — area in Sri Lanka was 1,372 1000 ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest arable land — area recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 1,372 1000 ha in 2020.
- What is the lowest arable land — area recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 577 1000 ha in 1962.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for arable land — area?
- Sri Lanka ranks 110th out of 248 countries with data for 2024.
- Is arable land — area rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sri Lanka 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
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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.