Land area equipped for irrigation β€” Area in South Africa

South Africa: Land area equipped for irrigation β€” Area was 2,240 1000 ha in 2024. β–² Rising

Latest (2024)
2,240 1000 ha
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
27th
of 184 countries
All-time high
2,240 1000 ha
in 2022
All-time low
808 1000 ha
in 1961
Years of data
64
1961–2024

Land area equipped for irrigation β€” Area in South Africa, 1961–2024

05001.0k1.5k2.0k196119922024

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

Analysis

South Africa recorded 2,240 1000 ha for land area equipped for irrigation β€” area in 2024. That is the highest value across all 64 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 31.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, land area equipped for irrigation β€” area in South Africa peaked at 2,240 1000 ha in 2022 and was at its lowest, 808 1000 ha, in 1961.

That places South Africa 27th out of 184 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 888.67 1000 ha 808 1000 ha 980 1000 ha 9
1970s 1,036 1000 ha 1,000 1000 ha 1,100 1000 ha 10
1980s 1,157 1000 ha 1,128 1000 ha 1,200 1000 ha 10
1990s 1,342 1000 ha 1,200 1000 ha 1,498 1000 ha 10
2000s 1,516 1000 ha 1,498 1000 ha 1,534 1000 ha 10
2010s 1,728 1000 ha 1,538 1000 ha 2,087 1000 ha 10
2020s 2,217 1000 ha 2,127 1000 ha 2,240 1000 ha 5

Countries ranked near South Africa

  1. 24 Peru 2,580 1000 ha compare
  2. 25 Myanmar 2,442 1000 ha compare
  3. 26 Kazakhstan 2,369 1000 ha compare
  4. 28 Australia 2,196 1000 ha compare
  5. 29 Ukraine 2,170 1000 ha compare
  6. 30 Philippines 2,155 1000 ha compare

See the full ranking of 236 places β†’

More environment data for South Africa

All data for South Africa β†’

Frequently asked questions

What is land area equipped for irrigation β€” area in South Africa?
Land area equipped for irrigation β€” area in South Africa was 2,240 1000 ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest land area equipped for irrigation β€” area recorded in South Africa?
The highest recorded value was 2,240 1000 ha in 2022.
What is the lowest land area equipped for irrigation β€” area recorded in South Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 808 1000 ha in 1961.
How does South Africa rank for land area equipped for irrigation β€” area?
South Africa ranks 27th out of 184 countries with data for 2024.
Is land area equipped for irrigation β€” area rising or falling in South Africa?
Over the last ten years it is up 31.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this South Africa data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Land area equipped for irrigation β€” Area. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV Β· JSON β€” 64 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Land area equipped for irrigation β€” Area in South Africa. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 17 August 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/land-area-equipped-for-irrigation-area/south-africa/

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/land-area-equipped-for-irrigation-area/south-africa/">Land area equipped for irrigation β€” Area in South Africa</a> β€” Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Land area equipped for irrigation β€” Area
Unit
1000 ha
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
236 places, 13,067 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.