Inland waters — Area in Australia and New Zealand

Australia and New Zealand: Inland waters — Area was 5,360 1000 ha in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
5,360 1000 ha
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
10th
of 162 countries
All-time high
6,332 1000 ha
in 1961
All-time low
5,360 1000 ha
in 2016
Years of data
64
1961–2024

Inland waters — Area in Australia and New Zealand, 1961–2024

02.0k4.0k6.0k196119922024

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.

Analysis

In 2024, inland waters — area in Australia and New Zealand stood at 5,360 1000 ha. That is the lowest value across all 64 years on record.

The figure is down 15.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, inland waters — area in Australia and New Zealand peaked at 6,332 1000 ha in 1961 and was at its lowest, 5,360 1000 ha, in 2016.

Australia and New Zealand ranks 10th of 162 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 64 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 6,332 1000 ha 6,332 1000 ha 6,332 1000 ha 9
1970s 6,332 1000 ha 6,332 1000 ha 6,332 1000 ha 10
1980s 6,332 1000 ha 6,332 1000 ha 6,332 1000 ha 10
1990s 6,332 1000 ha 6,332 1000 ha 6,332 1000 ha 10
2000s 6,332 1000 ha 6,332 1000 ha 6,332 1000 ha 10
2010s 5,943 1000 ha 5,360 1000 ha 6,332 1000 ha 10
2020s 5,360 1000 ha 5,360 1000 ha 5,360 1000 ha 5

Countries ranked near Australia and New Zealand

  1. 7 China, mainland 17,470 1000 ha compare
  2. 8 Brazil 15,763 1000 ha compare
  3. 9 Ethiopia PDR 12,090 1000 ha compare
  4. 11 Australia 4,920 1000 ha compare
  5. 12 Uganda 4,730 1000 ha compare
  6. 13 Argentina 4,371 1000 ha compare

See the full ranking of 209 places →

More environment data for Australia and New Zealand

All data for Australia and New Zealand →

Frequently asked questions

What is inland waters — area in Australia and New Zealand?
Inland waters — area in Australia and New Zealand was 5,360 1000 ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest inland waters — area recorded in Australia and New Zealand?
The highest recorded value was 6,332 1000 ha in 1961.
What is the lowest inland waters — area recorded in Australia and New Zealand?
The lowest recorded value was 5,360 1000 ha in 2016.
How does Australia and New Zealand rank for inland waters — area?
Australia and New Zealand ranks 10th out of 162 countries with data for 2024.
Is inland waters — area rising or falling in Australia and New Zealand?
Over the last ten years it is down 15.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Australia and New Zealand data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Inland waters — 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).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Inland waters — Area in Australia and New Zealand. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 21 August 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/inland-waters-area/australia-and-new-zealand/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/inland-waters-area/australia-and-new-zealand/">Inland waters — Area in Australia and New Zealand</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Inland waters — Area
Unit
1000 ha
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
209 places, 12,035 data points, 1961–2024
Last refreshed

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.