Arable land — Share in Agricultural land in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa: Arable land — Share in Agricultural land was 23.11 % in 2024. ▲ Rising
Arable land — Share in Agricultural land in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, arable land — share in agricultural land in Sub-Saharan Africa stood at 23.11 %. That is the highest value across all 64 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.2% on the previous year and up 5.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, arable land — share in agricultural land in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 23.11 % in 2024 and was at its lowest, 14.76 %, in 1961.
That places Sub-Saharan Africa 20th out of 31 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Arable land — Share in Agricultural land in Sub-Saharan Africa, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 14.76 % | — |
| 1962 | 14.87 % | +0.7% |
| 1963 | 15.09 % | +1.5% |
| 1964 | 15.2 % | +0.7% |
| 1965 | 15.33 % | +0.9% |
| 1966 | 15.38 % | +0.3% |
| 1967 | 15.46 % | +0.5% |
| 1968 | 15.61 % | +1.0% |
| 1969 | 15.7 % | +0.6% |
| 1970 | 15.72 % | +0.1% |
| 1971 | 15.83 % | +0.7% |
| 1972 | 15.91 % | +0.5% |
| 1973 | 15.93 % | +0.1% |
| 1974 | 15.91 % | -0.1% |
| 1975 | 16.03 % | +0.8% |
| 1976 | 16.11 % | +0.5% |
| 1977 | 16.15 % | +0.2% |
| 1978 | 16.3 % | +0.9% |
| 1979 | 16.35 % | +0.3% |
| 1980 | 16.4 % | +0.3% |
| 1981 | 16.38 % | -0.1% |
| 1982 | 16.46 % | +0.5% |
| 1983 | 16.54 % | +0.5% |
| 1984 | 16.6 % | +0.4% |
| 1985 | 16.85 % | +1.5% |
| 1986 | 16.91 % | +0.4% |
| 1987 | 16.9 % | -0.1% |
| 1988 | 16.98 % | +0.5% |
| 1989 | 17.1 % | +0.7% |
| 1990 | 17.27 % | +1.0% |
| 1991 | 17.53 % | +1.5% |
| 1992 | 17.78 % | +1.4% |
| 1993 | 18.28 % | +2.8% |
| 1994 | 18.44 % | +0.9% |
| 1995 | 18.77 % | +1.8% |
| 1996 | 18.91 % | +0.7% |
| 1997 | 18.97 % | +0.3% |
| 1998 | 19.03 % | +0.3% |
| 1999 | 19.26 % | +1.2% |
| 2000 | 19.29 % | +0.2% |
| 2001 | 19.4 % | +0.6% |
| 2002 | 19.51 % | +0.6% |
| 2003 | 19.87 % | +1.8% |
| 2004 | 20.14 % | +1.4% |
| 2005 | 20.23 % | +0.4% |
| 2006 | 20.34 % | +0.5% |
| 2007 | 20.49 % | +0.7% |
| 2008 | 20.78 % | +1.4% |
| 2009 | 21.01 % | +1.1% |
| 2010 | 21.6 % | +2.8% |
| 2011 | 21.73 % | +0.6% |
| 2012 | 21.5 % | -1.1% |
| 2013 | 21.72 % | +1.0% |
| 2014 | 21.95 % | +1.1% |
| 2015 | 22.15 % | +0.9% |
| 2016 | 22.35 % | +0.9% |
| 2017 | 22.6 % | +1.1% |
| 2018 | 22.73 % | +0.6% |
| 2019 | 22.57 % | -0.7% |
| 2020 | 22.65 % | +0.4% |
| 2021 | 22.82 % | +0.8% |
| 2022 | 22.94 % | +0.5% |
| 2023 | 23.06 % | +0.5% |
| 2024 | 23.11 % | +0.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 15.27 % | 14.76 % | 15.7 % | 9 |
| 1970s | 16.02 % | 15.72 % | 16.35 % | 10 |
| 1980s | 16.71 % | 16.38 % | 17.1 % | 10 |
| 1990s | 18.42 % | 17.27 % | 19.26 % | 10 |
| 2000s | 20.11 % | 19.29 % | 21.01 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 22.09 % | 21.5 % | 22.73 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 22.92 % | 22.65 % | 23.11 % | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa
More environment data for Sub-Saharan Africa
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -7.11 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -6.36 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.223 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.21 °C (2025)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 305.43 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Aquaculture production 904,662 metric tons (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 2.29 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from Transport (Energy) 2.96 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Permanent meadows and pastures — Share in Agricultural land 72.81 % (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is arable land — share in agricultural land in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Arable land — share in agricultural land in Sub-Saharan Africa was 23.11 % in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest arable land — share in agricultural land recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 23.11 % in 2024.
- What is the lowest arable land — share in agricultural land recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 14.76 % in 1961.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for arable land — share in agricultural land?
- Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 20th out of 31 groups with data for 2024.
- Is arable land — share in agricultural land rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.3%. 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 — 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.