Cattle — Livestock units per agricultural land area in Southern Africa
Southern Africa: Cattle — Livestock units per agricultural land area was 0.07 LSU/ha in 2023. ▲ Rising
Cattle — Livestock units per agricultural land area in Southern Africa, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in LSU/ha.
Analysis
Southern Africa recorded 0.07 LSU/ha for cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 12.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area in Southern Africa peaked at 0.08 LSU/ha in 1977 and was at its lowest, 0.06 LSU/ha, in 1966.
Southern Africa ranks 27th of 31 groups on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.
Cattle — Livestock units per agricultural land area in Southern Africa, year by year
| Year | LSU/ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 0.07 LSU/ha | — |
| 1962 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 0.06 LSU/ha | -14.3% |
| 1967 | 0.06 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 0.06 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 0.06 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 0.06 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1971 | 0.06 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +16.7% |
| 1973 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 0.08 LSU/ha | +14.3% |
| 1978 | 0.08 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 0.08 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 0.08 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 0.08 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 0.07 LSU/ha | -12.5% |
| 1983 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 0.08 LSU/ha | +14.3% |
| 1991 | 0.07 LSU/ha | -12.5% |
| 1992 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 0.08 LSU/ha | +14.3% |
| 2000 | 0.08 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 0.08 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 0.07 LSU/ha | -12.5% |
| 2003 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 0.08 LSU/ha | +14.3% |
| 2006 | 0.07 LSU/ha | -12.5% |
| 2007 | 0.08 LSU/ha | +14.3% |
| 2008 | 0.08 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 0.08 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 0.08 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 0.08 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 0.08 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 0.08 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 0.08 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 0.08 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 0.07 LSU/ha | -12.5% |
| 2017 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 0.07 LSU/ha | +0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.0656 LSU/ha | 0.06 LSU/ha | 0.07 LSU/ha | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.071 LSU/ha | 0.06 LSU/ha | 0.08 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.072 LSU/ha | 0.07 LSU/ha | 0.08 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.072 LSU/ha | 0.07 LSU/ha | 0.08 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.076 LSU/ha | 0.07 LSU/ha | 0.08 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.076 LSU/ha | 0.07 LSU/ha | 0.08 LSU/ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.07 LSU/ha | 0.07 LSU/ha | 0.07 LSU/ha | 4 |
Countries ranked near Southern Africa
More environment data for Southern Africa
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly 7.61 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly 4.17 Percentage change (2025)
- Temperature change 0.892 °C (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.282 °C (2025)
- Industrial roundwood — Export quantity 427,327 m3 (2024)
- Wood fuel, coniferous — Production 770,000 m3 (2024)
- Wood fuel, non-coniferous — Production 17.80 million m3 (2024)
- Industrial roundwood — Production 17.26 million m3 (2024)
- Industrial roundwood — Import quantity 161,260 m3 (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area in Southern Africa?
- Cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area in Southern Africa was 0.07 LSU/ha in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area recorded in Southern Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 0.08 LSU/ha in 1977.
- What is the lowest cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area recorded in Southern Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.06 LSU/ha in 1966.
- How does Southern Africa rank for cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area?
- Southern Africa ranks 27th out of 31 groups with data for 2023.
- Is cattle — livestock units per agricultural land area rising or falling in Southern Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 12.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Southern Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Cattle — 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.