Arable land — Share in Agricultural land in Australia
Australia: Arable land — Share in Agricultural land was 8.6 % in 2024. ▲ Rising
Arable land — Share in Agricultural land in Australia, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
Australia recorded 8.6 % for arable land — share in agricultural land in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, arable land — share in agricultural land in Australia peaked at 8.93 % in 2015 and was at its lowest, 2.72 %, in 1975.
That places Australia 220th out of 248 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Arable land — Share in Agricultural land in Australia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 3.03 % | — |
| 1962 | 3.26 % | +7.6% |
| 1963 | 3.21 % | -1.5% |
| 1964 | 3.38 % | +5.3% |
| 1965 | 3.56 % | +5.3% |
| 1966 | 3.86 % | +8.4% |
| 1967 | 3.94 % | +2.1% |
| 1968 | 4.17 % | +5.8% |
| 1969 | 3.84 % | -7.9% |
| 1970 | 3.75 % | -2.3% |
| 1971 | 3.37 % | -10.1% |
| 1972 | 3.41 % | +1.2% |
| 1973 | 3 % | -12.0% |
| 1974 | 2.95 % | -1.7% |
| 1975 | 2.72 % | -7.8% |
| 1976 | 2.89 % | +6.2% |
| 1977 | 3.02 % | +4.5% |
| 1978 | 3.35 % | +10.9% |
| 1979 | 3.5 % | +4.5% |
| 1980 | 3.59 % | +2.6% |
| 1981 | 3.68 % | +2.5% |
| 1982 | 3.96 % | +7.6% |
| 1983 | 3.98 % | +0.5% |
| 1984 | 4.47 % | +12.3% |
| 1985 | 4.31 % | -3.6% |
| 1986 | 4.41 % | +2.3% |
| 1987 | 4.16 % | -5.7% |
| 1988 | 3.84 % | -7.7% |
| 1989 | 3.75 % | -2.3% |
| 1990 | 3.65 % | -2.7% |
| 1991 | 3.72 % | +1.9% |
| 1992 | 3.48 % | -6.5% |
| 1993 | 3.72 % | +6.9% |
| 1994 | 3.8 % | +2.2% |
| 1995 | 3.63 % | -4.5% |
| 1996 | 4.13 % | +13.8% |
| 1997 | 4.52 % | +9.4% |
| 1998 | 4.6 % | +1.8% |
| 1999 | 5.07 % | +10.2% |
| 2000 | 5.15 % | +1.6% |
| 2001 | 5.31 % | +3.1% |
| 2002 | 5.31 % | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 5.29 % | -0.4% |
| 2004 | 6.52 % | +23.3% |
| 2005 | 6.44 % | -1.2% |
| 2006 | 5.92 % | -8.1% |
| 2007 | 5.81 % | -1.9% |
| 2008 | 6.16 % | +6.0% |
| 2009 | 7.06 % | +14.6% |
| 2010 | 6.8 % | -3.7% |
| 2011 | 8 % | +17.6% |
| 2012 | 8.17 % | +2.1% |
| 2013 | 8.4 % | +2.8% |
| 2014 | 8.54 % | +1.7% |
| 2015 | 8.93 % | +4.6% |
| 2016 | 8.77 % | -1.8% |
| 2017 | 8.27 % | -5.7% |
| 2018 | 8.63 % | +4.4% |
| 2019 | 8.43 % | -2.3% |
| 2020 | 8.61 % | +2.1% |
| 2021 | 8.6 % | -0.1% |
| 2022 | 8.6 % | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 8.6 % | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 8.6 % | +0.0% |
Australia compared with similar countries
- Australia's 8.6 % is below the median for high income countries, which is 46.14 %, 19% of the median. (74 countries reporting)
- Australia's 8.6 % is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 24.07 %, 36% of the median. (30 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 3.58 % | 3.03 % | 4.17 % | 9 |
| 1970s | 3.2 % | 2.72 % | 3.75 % | 10 |
| 1980s | 4.01 % | 3.59 % | 4.47 % | 10 |
| 1990s | 4.03 % | 3.48 % | 5.07 % | 10 |
| 2000s | 5.9 % | 5.15 % | 7.06 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.29 % | 6.8 % | 8.93 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.6 % | 8.6 % | 8.61 % | 5 |
Countries ranked near Australia
- 217 Eritrea 9.09 % compare
- 218 Sao Tome and Principe 9.04 % compare
- 219 French Polynesia 8.73 % compare
- 221 Australia and New Zealand 8.52 % compare
- 222 South Sudan 8.48 % compare
- 223 Cayman Islands 7.41 % compare
More environment data for Australia
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -4.75 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -5.98 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.345 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.4 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate -1.03 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 0.6708 % 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 0.0861 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is arable land — share in agricultural land in Australia?
- Arable land — share in agricultural land in Australia was 8.6 % in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest arable land — share in agricultural land recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 8.93 % in 2015.
- What is the lowest arable land — share in agricultural land recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.72 % in 1975.
- How does Australia rank for arable land — share in agricultural land?
- Australia ranks 220th out of 248 countries with data for 2024.
- Is arable land — share in agricultural land rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Arable land — Share in Agricultural land. 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.