Biological fixation — Cropland nitrogen per unit area in New Zealand
New Zealand: Biological fixation — Cropland nitrogen per unit area was 2.5 kg/ha in 2023. ▼ Falling
Biological fixation — Cropland nitrogen per unit area in New Zealand, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in kg/ha.
Analysis
New Zealand recorded 2.5 kg/ha for biological fixation — cropland nitrogen per unit area in 2023.
That represents a change of up 2.1% on the previous year and up 3.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, biological fixation — cropland nitrogen per unit area in New Zealand peaked at 13.93 kg/ha in 1987 and was at its lowest, 2.14 kg/ha, in 2021.
That places New Zealand 126th out of 176 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Biological fixation — Cropland nitrogen per unit area in New Zealand, year by year
| Year | kg/ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 3.89 kg/ha | — |
| 1962 | 3.34 kg/ha | -14.3% |
| 1963 | 4.17 kg/ha | +24.8% |
| 1964 | 4.49 kg/ha | +7.8% |
| 1965 | 3.69 kg/ha | -17.9% |
| 1966 | 4.32 kg/ha | +17.0% |
| 1967 | 4.65 kg/ha | +7.8% |
| 1968 | 5.38 kg/ha | +15.7% |
| 1969 | 8.26 kg/ha | +53.5% |
| 1970 | 7.74 kg/ha | -6.3% |
| 1971 | 7.85 kg/ha | +1.5% |
| 1972 | 8.55 kg/ha | +9.0% |
| 1973 | 8.81 kg/ha | +2.9% |
| 1974 | 8.19 kg/ha | -7.0% |
| 1975 | 7.25 kg/ha | -11.4% |
| 1976 | 7.49 kg/ha | +3.3% |
| 1977 | 6.42 kg/ha | -14.3% |
| 1978 | 8.06 kg/ha | +25.5% |
| 1979 | 8.3 kg/ha | +3.0% |
| 1980 | 9.4 kg/ha | +13.3% |
| 1981 | 6.94 kg/ha | -26.1% |
| 1982 | 6.56 kg/ha | -5.5% |
| 1983 | 9.09 kg/ha | +38.5% |
| 1984 | 8.72 kg/ha | -4.0% |
| 1985 | 8.51 kg/ha | -2.4% |
| 1986 | 8.06 kg/ha | -5.3% |
| 1987 | 13.93 kg/ha | +72.8% |
| 1988 | 10.86 kg/ha | -22.1% |
| 1989 | 7.5 kg/ha | -30.9% |
| 1990 | 8.57 kg/ha | +14.2% |
| 1991 | 9.42 kg/ha | +10.0% |
| 1992 | 10.86 kg/ha | +15.2% |
| 1993 | 9.12 kg/ha | -16.0% |
| 1994 | 8.47 kg/ha | -7.1% |
| 1995 | 7.87 kg/ha | -7.1% |
| 1996 | 6.28 kg/ha | -20.2% |
| 1997 | 6.63 kg/ha | +5.5% |
| 1998 | 8.63 kg/ha | +30.3% |
| 1999 | 6.84 kg/ha | -20.8% |
| 2000 | 8.25 kg/ha | +20.6% |
| 2001 | 4.99 kg/ha | -39.5% |
| 2002 | 3.97 kg/ha | -20.5% |
| 2003 | 4.22 kg/ha | +6.4% |
| 2004 | 4.42 kg/ha | +4.7% |
| 2005 | 3.84 kg/ha | -13.0% |
| 2006 | 3.07 kg/ha | -20.2% |
| 2007 | 2.59 kg/ha | -15.4% |
| 2008 | 2.42 kg/ha | -6.6% |
| 2009 | 2.47 kg/ha | +2.2% |
| 2010 | 4.17 kg/ha | +68.4% |
| 2011 | 4.02 kg/ha | -3.6% |
| 2012 | 2.3 kg/ha | -42.7% |
| 2013 | 2.42 kg/ha | +4.9% |
| 2014 | 2.49 kg/ha | +3.1% |
| 2015 | 2.52 kg/ha | +1.3% |
| 2016 | 2.47 kg/ha | -2.1% |
| 2017 | 2.7 kg/ha | +9.2% |
| 2018 | 2.48 kg/ha | -8.0% |
| 2019 | 2.4 kg/ha | -3.2% |
| 2020 | 2.47 kg/ha | +2.9% |
| 2021 | 2.14 kg/ha | -13.3% |
| 2022 | 2.45 kg/ha | +14.5% |
| 2023 | 2.5 kg/ha | +2.1% |
New Zealand compared with similar countries
- New Zealand's 2.5 kg/ha is below the median for high income countries, which is 3.23 kg/ha, 78% of the median. (52 countries reporting)
- New Zealand's 2.5 kg/ha is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 5.02 kg/ha, 50% of the median. (20 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 4.69 kg/ha | 3.34 kg/ha | 8.26 kg/ha | 9 |
| 1970s | 7.87 kg/ha | 6.42 kg/ha | 8.81 kg/ha | 10 |
| 1980s | 8.96 kg/ha | 6.56 kg/ha | 13.93 kg/ha | 10 |
| 1990s | 8.27 kg/ha | 6.28 kg/ha | 10.86 kg/ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 4.02 kg/ha | 2.42 kg/ha | 8.25 kg/ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.8 kg/ha | 2.3 kg/ha | 4.17 kg/ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.39 kg/ha | 2.14 kg/ha | 2.5 kg/ha | 4 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
More environment data for New Zealand
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -0.2131 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 1.69 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.379 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.23 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 0.1365 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual -0.474 % 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 -0.9337 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is biological fixation — cropland nitrogen per unit area in New Zealand?
- Biological fixation — cropland nitrogen per unit area in New Zealand was 2.5 kg/ha in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest biological fixation — cropland nitrogen per unit area recorded in New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 13.93 kg/ha in 1987.
- What is the lowest biological fixation — cropland nitrogen per unit area recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.14 kg/ha in 2021.
- How does New Zealand rank for biological fixation — cropland nitrogen per unit area?
- New Zealand ranks 126th out of 176 countries with data for 2023.
- Is biological fixation — cropland nitrogen per unit area rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this New Zealand data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Biological fixation — Cropland nitrogen per unit area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 63 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
The Cropland Nutrient balance domain contains information on the flows of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium from mineral fertilizer, manure applied, atmospheric deposition, crop removal, and biological fixation over cropland and per unit area of cropland. The flows are aggregated to total inputs and total outputs, from which the overall nutrient balance and nutrient use efficiency on cropland are calculated. Statistics are disseminated in units of tonnes and in kg/ha, as appropriate. Nutrient use efficiency is expressed as a fraction (%).