Land area equipped for irrigation — Share in Cropland in United States
United States: Land area equipped for irrigation — Share in Cropland was 15.96 % in 2024. ▲ Rising
Land area equipped for irrigation — Share in Cropland in United States, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, land area equipped for irrigation — share in cropland in United States stood at 15.96 %.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 5.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land area equipped for irrigation — share in cropland in United States peaked at 17.13 % in 2021 and was at its lowest, 9.32 %, in 2006.
That places United States 102nd out of 217 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Land area equipped for irrigation — Share in Cropland in United States, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 10.41 % | — |
| 1962 | 10.89 % | +4.6% |
| 1963 | 10.97 % | +0.7% |
| 1964 | 11.29 % | +2.9% |
| 1965 | 11.52 % | +2.0% |
| 1966 | 11.69 % | +1.5% |
| 1967 | 11.91 % | +1.9% |
| 1968 | 11.65 % | -2.2% |
| 1969 | 11.26 % | -3.3% |
| 1970 | 11.39 % | +1.2% |
| 1971 | 11.53 % | +1.2% |
| 1972 | 11.67 % | +1.2% |
| 1973 | 11.81 % | +1.2% |
| 1974 | 12.01 % | +1.7% |
| 1975 | 12.11 % | +0.8% |
| 1976 | 12.22 % | +0.9% |
| 1977 | 12.37 % | +1.2% |
| 1978 | 12.75 % | +3.1% |
| 1979 | 12.85 % | +0.8% |
| 1980 | 13.11 % | +2.0% |
| 1981 | 13.64 % | +4.0% |
| 1982 | 14.17 % | +3.9% |
| 1983 | 14.14 % | -0.2% |
| 1984 | 14.12 % | -0.1% |
| 1985 | 14.1 % | -0.1% |
| 1986 | 14.07 % | -0.2% |
| 1987 | 14.2 % | +0.9% |
| 1988 | 14.24 % | +0.3% |
| 1989 | 14.27 % | +0.2% |
| 1990 | 14.31 % | +0.3% |
| 1991 | 14.35 % | +0.3% |
| 1992 | 14.51 % | +1.1% |
| 1993 | 14.61 % | +0.7% |
| 1994 | 14.68 % | +0.5% |
| 1995 | 14.69 % | +0.1% |
| 1996 | 14.93 % | +1.6% |
| 1997 | 15.03 % | +0.7% |
| 1998 | 15.08 % | +0.3% |
| 1999 | 15.17 % | +0.6% |
| 2000 | 15.16 % | -0.1% |
| 2001 | 15.14 % | -0.1% |
| 2002 | 15.33 % | +1.3% |
| 2003 | 13.89 % | -9.4% |
| 2004 | 12.41 % | -10.7% |
| 2005 | 10.88 % | -12.3% |
| 2006 | 9.32 % | -14.3% |
| 2007 | 16.36 % | +75.5% |
| 2008 | 16.51 % | +0.9% |
| 2009 | 16.65 % | +0.8% |
| 2010 | 16.8 % | +0.9% |
| 2011 | 16.87 % | +0.4% |
| 2012 | 16.94 % | +0.4% |
| 2013 | 16.88 % | -0.4% |
| 2014 | 16.82 % | -0.4% |
| 2015 | 16.76 % | -0.4% |
| 2016 | 16.7 % | -0.4% |
| 2017 | 16.65 % | -0.3% |
| 2018 | 16.77 % | +0.7% |
| 2019 | 16.89 % | +0.7% |
| 2020 | 17.01 % | +0.7% |
| 2021 | 17.13 % | +0.7% |
| 2022 | 15.96 % | -6.8% |
| 2023 | 15.96 % | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 15.96 % | +0.0% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 15.96 % is above the median for high income countries, which is 14.71 %, 1.1× the median. (60 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Land area equipped for irrigation — Share in Cropland in United States changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | +75.5% | 9.32 % | 16.36 % |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 11.29 % | 10.41 % | 11.91 % | 9 |
| 1970s | 12.07 % | 11.39 % | 12.85 % | 10 |
| 1980s | 14.01 % | 13.11 % | 14.27 % | 10 |
| 1990s | 14.74 % | 14.31 % | 15.17 % | 10 |
| 2000s | 14.17 % | 9.32 % | 16.65 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 16.81 % | 16.65 % | 16.94 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 16.4 % | 15.96 % | 17.13 % | 5 |
Countries ranked near United States
More environment data for United States
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -2.64 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -2.16 Percentage change (2025)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 0.2197 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) (Mt CO2e) 1.39 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) (Mt CO2e), per 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) (Mt CO2e), per 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) (Mt CO2e), annual 0.1952 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land area equipped for irrigation — share in cropland in United States?
- Land area equipped for irrigation — share in cropland in United States was 15.96 % in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest land area equipped for irrigation — share in cropland recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 17.13 % in 2021.
- What is the lowest land area equipped for irrigation — share in cropland recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 9.32 % in 2006.
- How does United States rank for land area equipped for irrigation — share in cropland?
- United States ranks 102nd out of 217 countries with data for 2024.
- Is land area equipped for irrigation — share in cropland rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 5.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Land area equipped for irrigation — Share in Cropland. 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.