Arable land use per person in United States
United States: Arable land use per person was 0.4501 hectares per person in 2023. ▼ Falling
Arable land use per person in United States, 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
United States recorded 0.4501 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 0.8% on the previous year and down 8.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, arable land use per person in United States peaked at 0.9833 hectares per person in 1961 and was at its lowest, 0.4501 hectares per person, in 2023.
That places United States 17th out of 206 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.9253 hectares per person | 0.8781 hectares per person | 0.9833 hectares per person | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.8727 hectares per person | 0.8387 hectares per person | 0.9204 hectares per person | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.7913 hectares per person | 0.7524 hectares per person | 0.8307 hectares per person | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.6857 hectares per person | 0.629 hectares per person | 0.7437 hectares per person | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.5699 hectares per person | 0.5184 hectares per person | 0.6219 hectares per person | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.488 hectares per person | 0.4697 hectares per person | 0.5096 hectares per person | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.457 hectares per person | 0.4501 hectares per person | 0.4642 hectares per person | 4 |
Countries ranked near United States
More environment data for United States
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 5,913 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 17.39 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 257.35 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 9.47 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 418.87 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 1.54 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 843.36 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 2 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 3.59 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 149.52 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is arable land use per person in United States?
- Arable land use per person in United States was 0.4501 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 United States?
- The highest recorded value was 0.9833 hectares per person in 1961.
- What is the lowest arable land use per person recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.4501 hectares per person in 2023.
- How does United States rank for arable land use per person?
- United States ranks 17th out of 206 countries with data for 2023.
- Is arable land use per person rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 8.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United States 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
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.