Arable land — Share in Agricultural land in Malawi
Malawi: Arable land — Share in Agricultural land was 65.23 % in 2024. ▲ Rising
Arable land — Share in Agricultural land in Malawi, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
Malawi recorded 65.23 % for arable land — share in agricultural land in 2024. That is the highest value across all 64 years on record.
The figure is up 2.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, arable land — share in agricultural land in Malawi peaked at 65.23 % in 2021 and was at its lowest, 40.63 %, in 1961.
That places Malawi 52nd out of 248 countries 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.
Arable land — Share in Agricultural land in Malawi, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 40.63 % | — |
| 1962 | 42.42 % | +4.4% |
| 1963 | 43.28 % | +2.0% |
| 1964 | 44.12 % | +1.9% |
| 1965 | 47.18 % | +6.9% |
| 1966 | 47.91 % | +1.5% |
| 1967 | 47.16 % | -1.6% |
| 1968 | 48.56 % | +3.0% |
| 1969 | 49.24 % | +1.4% |
| 1970 | 48.56 % | -1.4% |
| 1971 | 50.56 % | +4.1% |
| 1972 | 51.19 % | +1.2% |
| 1973 | 51.81 % | +1.2% |
| 1974 | 51.77 % | -0.1% |
| 1975 | 51.15 % | -1.2% |
| 1976 | 51.12 % | -0.1% |
| 1977 | 51.09 % | -0.1% |
| 1978 | 51.66 % | +1.1% |
| 1979 | 51.64 % | -0.0% |
| 1980 | 49.61 % | -3.9% |
| 1981 | 50.89 % | +2.6% |
| 1982 | 52.11 % | +2.4% |
| 1983 | 50.76 % | -2.6% |
| 1984 | 51.38 % | +1.2% |
| 1985 | 51.19 % | -0.4% |
| 1986 | 52.38 % | +2.3% |
| 1987 | 52.31 % | -0.1% |
| 1988 | 52.25 % | -0.1% |
| 1989 | 52.82 % | +1.1% |
| 1990 | 53.34 % | +1.0% |
| 1991 | 54.4 % | +2.0% |
| 1992 | 53.87 % | -1.0% |
| 1993 | 53.87 % | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 51.6 % | -4.2% |
| 1995 | 53.74 % | +4.1% |
| 1996 | 54.8 % | +2.0% |
| 1997 | 55.31 % | +0.9% |
| 1998 | 56.77 % | +2.6% |
| 1999 | 57.7 % | +1.6% |
| 2000 | 58.15 % | +0.8% |
| 2001 | 59.01 % | +1.5% |
| 2002 | 59.01 % | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 60.25 % | +2.1% |
| 2004 | 60.25 % | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 61.78 % | +2.5% |
| 2006 | 62.51 % | +1.2% |
| 2007 | 62.51 % | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 63.54 % | +1.6% |
| 2009 | 63.87 % | +0.5% |
| 2010 | 63.87 % | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 63.87 % | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 63.87 % | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 63.48 % | -0.6% |
| 2014 | 63.84 % | +0.6% |
| 2015 | 64.19 % | +0.5% |
| 2016 | 63.78 % | -0.6% |
| 2017 | 64.12 % | +0.5% |
| 2018 | 64.46 % | +0.5% |
| 2019 | 64.78 % | +0.5% |
| 2020 | 64.85 % | +0.1% |
| 2021 | 65.23 % | +0.6% |
| 2022 | 65.23 % | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 65.23 % | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 65.23 % | +0.0% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's 65.23 % is above the median for low income countries, which is 30.93 %, 2.1× the median. (23 countries reporting)
- Malawi's 65.23 % is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 23.01 %, 2.8× the median. (45 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 45.61 % | 40.63 % | 49.24 % | 9 |
| 1970s | 51.05 % | 48.56 % | 51.81 % | 10 |
| 1980s | 51.57 % | 49.61 % | 52.82 % | 10 |
| 1990s | 54.54 % | 51.6 % | 57.7 % | 10 |
| 2000s | 61.09 % | 58.15 % | 63.87 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 64.03 % | 63.48 % | 64.78 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 65.15 % | 64.85 % | 65.23 % | 5 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More environment data for Malawi
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -0.9153 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -0.8098 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.254 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.07 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 3.65 % 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 5.3 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is arable land — share in agricultural land in Malawi?
- Arable land — share in agricultural land in Malawi was 65.23 % in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest arable land — share in agricultural land recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 65.23 % in 2021.
- What is the lowest arable land — share in agricultural land recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 40.63 % in 1961.
- How does Malawi rank for arable land — share in agricultural land?
- Malawi ranks 52nd out of 248 countries with data for 2024.
- Is arable land — share in agricultural land rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malawi 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.