Cattle and Buffaloes — Livestock units per agricultural land area in World
World: Cattle and Buffaloes — Livestock units per agricultural land area was 0.23 LSU/ha in 2023. ▲ Rising
Cattle and Buffaloes — Livestock units per agricultural land area in World, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in LSU/ha.
Analysis
In 2023, cattle and buffaloes — livestock units per agricultural land area in World stood at 0.23 LSU/ha. That is the highest value across all 63 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cattle and buffaloes — livestock units per agricultural land area in World peaked at 0.23 LSU/ha in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.16 LSU/ha, in 1961.
That places World 14th out of 31 groups with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.
Cattle and Buffaloes — Livestock units per agricultural land area in World, year by year
| Year | LSU/ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 0.16 LSU/ha | — |
| 1962 | 0.16 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 0.16 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 0.16 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 0.17 LSU/ha | +6.3% |
| 1966 | 0.17 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1967 | 0.17 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 0.17 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 0.17 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 0.18 LSU/ha | +5.9% |
| 1971 | 0.18 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 0.18 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 0.18 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 0.19 LSU/ha | +5.6% |
| 1975 | 0.19 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 0.19 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 0.19 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 0.19 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 0.19 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 0.19 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 0.19 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +5.3% |
| 1983 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 0.2 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 0.21 LSU/ha | +5.0% |
| 2005 | 0.21 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 0.21 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 0.21 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 0.21 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 0.22 LSU/ha | +4.8% |
| 2010 | 0.21 LSU/ha | -4.5% |
| 2011 | 0.21 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 0.22 LSU/ha | +4.8% |
| 2013 | 0.22 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 0.22 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 0.22 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 0.22 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 0.22 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 0.22 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 0.22 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 0.23 LSU/ha | +4.5% |
| 2021 | 0.23 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 0.23 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 0.23 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.1656 LSU/ha | 0.16 LSU/ha | 0.17 LSU/ha | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.186 LSU/ha | 0.18 LSU/ha | 0.19 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.198 LSU/ha | 0.19 LSU/ha | 0.2 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.2 LSU/ha | 0.2 LSU/ha | 0.2 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.207 LSU/ha | 0.2 LSU/ha | 0.22 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.218 LSU/ha | 0.21 LSU/ha | 0.22 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.23 LSU/ha | 0.23 LSU/ha | 0.23 LSU/ha | 4 |
Countries ranked near World
- 12 Ethiopia 0.92 LSU/ha compare
- 12 Switzerland 0.92 LSU/ha compare
- 14 Costa Rica 0.91 LSU/ha compare
- 15 New Zealand 0.88 LSU/ha compare
- 16 India 0.86 LSU/ha compare
- 17 Norway 0.8 LSU/ha compare
- 17 Puerto Rico 0.8 LSU/ha compare
More environment data for World
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -3.5 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -2.99 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.208 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.88 °C (2025)
- Graphic papers — Import quantity, annual growth rate 5.11 % change on previous year (2024)
- Graphic papers — Import quantity, per unit of GDP 0 t per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Graphic papers — Import quantity, per capita 0.0042 t per person (2024)
- Graphic papers — Import value, annual growth rate -2.99 % change on previous year (2024)
- Graphic papers — Import value, per unit of GDP 0 1000 USD per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cattle and buffaloes — livestock units per agricultural land area in World?
- Cattle and buffaloes — livestock units per agricultural land area in World was 0.23 LSU/ha in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest cattle and buffaloes — livestock units per agricultural land area recorded in World?
- The highest recorded value was 0.23 LSU/ha in 2020.
- What is the lowest cattle and buffaloes — livestock units per agricultural land area recorded in World?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.16 LSU/ha in 1961.
- How does World rank for cattle and buffaloes — livestock units per agricultural land area?
- World ranks 14th out of 31 groups with data for 2023.
- Is cattle and buffaloes — livestock units per agricultural land area rising or falling in World?
- Over the last ten years it is up 4.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this World data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Cattle and Buffaloes — Livestock units per agricultural land 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 Livestock Patterns domain of FAOSTAT contains data on livestock numbers, shares of major livestock species and densities of livestock units in the agricultural land area. Values are calculated using Livestock Units (LSU), which facilitate aggregating information for different livestock types. Data are available by country, with global coverage, for the period 1961 to the most recent year available with annual updates. This methodology applies the LSU coefficients reported in the "Guidelines for the preparation of livestock sector reviews" (FAO, 2011). From this publication, LSU coefficients are computed by livestock type and by country. The reference unit used for the calculation of livestock units (=1 LSU) is the grazing equivalent of one adult dairy cow producing 3000 kg of milk annually, fed without additional concentrated foodstuffs. FAOSTAT agri-environmental indicators on livestock patterns closely follow the structure of the indicators in EUROSTAT.