Cropland — Share in Land area in Zambia
Zambia: Cropland — Share in Land area was 5.17 % in 2024. ▲ Rising
Cropland — Share in Land area in Zambia, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for cropland — share in land area in Zambia is 5.17 %, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 64 years on record.
That represents a change of up 2.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cropland — share in land area in Zambia peaked at 5.17 % in 2017 and was at its lowest, 3.12 %, in 1979.
That places Zambia 194th out of 252 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Cropland — Share in Land area in Zambia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 3.44 % | — |
| 1962 | 3.44 % | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 3.48 % | +1.2% |
| 1964 | 3.51 % | +0.9% |
| 1965 | 3.51 % | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 3.59 % | +2.3% |
| 1967 | 3.61 % | +0.6% |
| 1968 | 3.65 % | +1.1% |
| 1969 | 3.69 % | +1.1% |
| 1970 | 3.73 % | +1.1% |
| 1971 | 3.9 % | +4.6% |
| 1972 | 3.92 % | +0.5% |
| 1973 | 3.93 % | +0.3% |
| 1974 | 3.97 % | +1.0% |
| 1975 | 3.95 % | -0.5% |
| 1976 | 3.92 % | -0.8% |
| 1977 | 3.89 % | -0.8% |
| 1978 | 3.68 % | -5.4% |
| 1979 | 3.12 % | -15.2% |
| 1980 | 3.16 % | +1.3% |
| 1981 | 3.23 % | +2.2% |
| 1982 | 3.31 % | +2.5% |
| 1983 | 3.38 % | +2.1% |
| 1984 | 3.46 % | +2.4% |
| 1985 | 3.54 % | +2.3% |
| 1986 | 3.61 % | +2.0% |
| 1987 | 3.69 % | +2.2% |
| 1988 | 3.76 % | +1.9% |
| 1989 | 3.91 % | +4.0% |
| 1990 | 3.92 % | +0.3% |
| 1991 | 3.73 % | -4.8% |
| 1992 | 3.77 % | +1.1% |
| 1993 | 3.77 % | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 3.86 % | +2.4% |
| 1995 | 3.86 % | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 3.86 % | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 3.86 % | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 3.86 % | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 3.86 % | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 3.86 % | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 3.7 % | -4.1% |
| 2002 | 3.51 % | -5.1% |
| 2003 | 3.91 % | +11.4% |
| 2004 | 3.89 % | -0.5% |
| 2005 | 3.71 % | -4.6% |
| 2006 | 4.1 % | +10.5% |
| 2007 | 4.01 % | -2.2% |
| 2008 | 4.15 % | +3.5% |
| 2009 | 4.82 % | +16.1% |
| 2010 | 4.62 % | -4.1% |
| 2011 | 4.89 % | +5.8% |
| 2012 | 5.16 % | +5.5% |
| 2013 | 5.03 % | -2.5% |
| 2014 | 5.03 % | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 5.03 % | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 5.03 % | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 5.17 % | +2.8% |
| 2018 | 5.17 % | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 5.17 % | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 5.17 % | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 5.17 % | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 5.17 % | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 5.17 % | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 5.17 % | +0.0% |
Zambia compared with similar countries
- Zambia's 5.17 % is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 16.14 %, 32% of the median. (44 countries reporting)
- Zambia's 5.17 % is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 13.37 %, 39% of the median. (45 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 3.55 % | 3.44 % | 3.69 % | 9 |
| 1970s | 3.8 % | 3.12 % | 3.97 % | 10 |
| 1980s | 3.5 % | 3.16 % | 3.91 % | 10 |
| 1990s | 3.83 % | 3.73 % | 3.92 % | 10 |
| 2000s | 3.97 % | 3.51 % | 4.82 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.03 % | 4.62 % | 5.17 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.17 % | 5.17 % | 5.17 % | 5 |
Countries ranked near Zambia
More environment data for Zambia
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -2.98 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -3.03 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.265 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.11 °C (2025)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 2.74 % 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 3.49 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cropland — share in land area in Zambia?
- Cropland — share in land area in Zambia was 5.17 % in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest cropland — share in land area recorded in Zambia?
- The highest recorded value was 5.17 % in 2017.
- What is the lowest cropland — share in land area recorded in Zambia?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.12 % in 1979.
- How does Zambia rank for cropland — share in land area?
- Zambia ranks 194th out of 252 countries with data for 2024.
- Is cropland — share in land area rising or falling in Zambia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Zambia data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Cropland — Share in Land area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 64 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
The FAOSTAT Land Use domain contains data on twenty-one land use categories and twenty-three categories of irrigation and agricultural practices. Data are available yearly and by country, regional and global levels. The domain includes Land Use Indicators providing information on the percentage share of agricultural and forest land, and their sub-components, including irrigated areas and areas under organic agriculture, within a country land use matrix. Data are available at country, regional and global level, for the following elements: (in percentage) i) Share in Land area; ii) Share in Agricultural land, iii) Share in Cropland; and iv) Share in Forest land; (in ha/pc) v) Area per capita.