What is arable land — area in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Arable land — area in Sub-Saharan Africa was 223,442 1000 ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

What is the highest arable land — area recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?

The highest recorded value was 223,442 1000 ha in 2024.

What is the lowest arable land — area recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?

The lowest recorded value was 120,405 1000 ha in 1961.

How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for arable land — area?

Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 7th out of 36 groups with data for 2024.

Is arable land — area rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Over the last ten years it is up 8.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this Sub-Saharan 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.

Arable land — Area in Sub-Saharan Africa

Name: Arable land — Area in Sub-Saharan Africa
Creator: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)

Sub-Saharan Africa: Arable land — Area was 223,442 1000 ha in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)

223,442 1000 ha

Change on year

up 0.4%

Rank

7th

of 36 groups

All-time high

223,442 1000 ha

in 2024

All-time low

120,405 1000 ha

in 1961

Years of data

1961–2024

Arable land — Area in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1961–2024

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

Analysis

Sub-Saharan Africa recorded 223,442 1000 ha for arable land — area in 2024. That is the highest value across all 64 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.4% on the previous year and up 8.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, arable land — area in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 223,442 1000 ha in 2024 and was at its lowest, 120,405 1000 ha, in 1961.

That places Sub-Saharan Africa 7th 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	124,668 1000 ha	120,405 1000 ha	128,520 1000 ha	9
1970s	131,850 1000 ha	128,777 1000 ha	135,099 1000 ha	10
1980s	139,337 1000 ha	135,656 1000 ha	143,671 1000 ha	10
1990s	155,960 1000 ha	145,499 1000 ha	165,213 1000 ha	10
2000s	176,116 1000 ha	166,089 1000 ha	187,058 1000 ha	10
2010s	207,037 1000 ha	194,211 1000 ha	217,473 1000 ha	10
2020s	220,703 1000 ha	217,146 1000 ha	223,442 1000 ha	5

Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa

4 Russian Federation 121,649 1000 ha compare
5 China 109,061 1000 ha compare
6 China, mainland 108,466 1000 ha compare
7 Brazil 55,642 1000 ha compare
8 Argentina 46,842 1000 ha compare
9 Canada 38,064 1000 ha compare
10 Nigeria 37,184 1000 ha compare

See the full ranking of 267 places →

More environment data for Sub-Saharan Africa

Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Transport (Energy) 2.96 Mt CO2e (2024)
Inland waters — Area 41,984 1000 ha (2024)
Land area equipped for irrigation — Area 7,505 1000 ha (2024)
Land area equipped for irrigation — Share in Cropland 2.86 % (2024)
Total fisheries production 9.71 million metric tons (2024)
Capture fisheries production 8.80 million metric tons (2024)
Aquaculture production 904,662 metric tons (2024)
Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Waste 13.02 Mt CO2e (2024)
Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Agriculture 242.64 Mt CO2e (2024)
Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Building (Energy) 10.75 Mt CO2e (2024)

All data for Sub-Saharan Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is arable land — area in Sub-Saharan Africa?: Arable land — area in Sub-Saharan Africa was 223,442 1000 ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest arable land — area recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?: The highest recorded value was 223,442 1000 ha in 2024.
What is the lowest arable land — area recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?: The lowest recorded value was 120,405 1000 ha in 1961.
How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for arable land — area?: Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 7th out of 36 groups with data for 2024.
Is arable land — area rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?: Over the last ten years it is up 8.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Sub-Saharan 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

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: 267 places, 15,674 data points, 1961–2024
Last refreshed: 12 August 2026

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.