What is arable land use per person in Malawi?

Arable land use per person in Malawi was 0.1895 hectares per person in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

What is the highest arable land use per person recorded in Malawi?

The highest recorded value was 0.4169 hectares per person in 1966.

What is the lowest arable land use per person recorded in Malawi?

The lowest recorded value was 0.1895 hectares per person in 2023.

How does Malawi rank for arable land use per person?

Malawi ranks 64th out of 206 countries with data for 2023.

Is arable land use per person rising or falling in Malawi?

Over the last ten years it is down 13.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.

Where does this Malawi data come from?

The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Arable land use per person. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Arable land use per person in Malawi

Name: Arable land use per person in Malawi
Creator: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
License: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)

Malawi: Arable land use per person was 0.1895 hectares per person in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)

0.1895 hectares per person

Change on year

down 2.5%

World rank

64th

of 206 countries

All-time high

0.4169 hectares per person

in 1966

All-time low

0.1895 hectares per person

in 2023

Years of data

1961–2023

Arable land use per person in Malawi, 1961–2023

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares per person.

Analysis

Malawi recorded 0.1895 hectares per person for arable land use per person in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 63 years on record.

That represents a change of down 2.5% on the previous year and down 13.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, arable land use per person in Malawi peaked at 0.4169 hectares per person in 1966 and was at its lowest, 0.1895 hectares per person, in 2023.

Malawi ranks 64th of 206 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1960s	0.3899 hectares per person	0.3499 hectares per person	0.4169 hectares per person	9
1970s	0.3812 hectares per person	0.34 hectares per person	0.4104 hectares per person	10
1980s	0.2769 hectares per person	0.2397 hectares per person	0.3098 hectares per person	10
1990s	0.2307 hectares per person	0.2066 hectares per person	0.2444 hectares per person	10
2000s	0.2447 hectares per person	0.2399 hectares per person	0.25 hectares per person	10
2010s	0.2169 hectares per person	0.2038 hectares per person	0.2361 hectares per person	10
2020s	0.1962 hectares per person	0.1895 hectares per person	0.2014 hectares per person	4

Countries ranked near Malawi

61 Eritrea 0.1988 hectares per person compare
62 Tonga 0.1912 hectares per person compare
63 South Africa 0.1898 hectares per person compare
65 Afghanistan 0.1893 hectares per person compare
66 Sierra Leone 0.1872 hectares per person compare
67 Syria 0.1865 hectares per person compare

See the full ranking of 206 places →

More environment data for Malawi

Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 19.02 Mt CO2e (2024)
Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 0.8785 t CO2e/capita (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 5.42 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.7527 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 1.9 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0074 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 9.34 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0006 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0087 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 1.25 Mt CO2e (2024)

All data for Malawi →

Frequently asked questions

What is arable land use per person in Malawi?: Arable land use per person in Malawi was 0.1895 hectares per person in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest arable land use per person recorded in Malawi?: The highest recorded value was 0.4169 hectares per person in 1966.
What is the lowest arable land use per person recorded in Malawi?: The lowest recorded value was 0.1895 hectares per person in 2023.
How does Malawi rank for arable land use per person?: Malawi ranks 64th out of 206 countries with data for 2023.
Is arable land use per person rising or falling in Malawi?: Over the last ten years it is down 13.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Malawi data come from?: The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Arable land use per person. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 63 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator: Arable land use per person
Unit: hectares per person
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 206 places, 11,842 data points, 1961–2023
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Arable land is defined by the FAO as land under temporary crops, temporary meadows for mowing or for pasture, land under market or kitchen gardens, and land temporarily fallow. It is measured in hectares per person.