Land cover and land cover change — Loss of cropland in Malawi
Malawi: Land cover and land cover change — Loss of cropland was 2,962 Square kilometres in 2022. ▲ Rising
Land cover and land cover change — Loss of cropland in Malawi, 2005–2022
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Square kilometres.
Analysis
Malawi recorded 2,962 Square kilometres for land cover and land cover change — loss of cropland in 2022. That is the highest value across all 5 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.6% on the previous year and up 86.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land cover and land cover change — loss of cropland in Malawi peaked at 2,962 Square kilometres in 2022 and was at its lowest, 844.88 Square kilometres, in 2005.
Malawi ranks 64th of 169 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
Land cover and land cover change — Loss of cropland in Malawi, year by year
| Year | Square kilometres | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 844.88 Square kilometres | — |
| 2010 | 1,588 Square kilometres | +87.9% |
| 2015 | 1,938 Square kilometres | +22.1% |
| 2020 | 2,915 Square kilometres | +50.4% |
| 2022 | 2,962 Square kilometres | +1.6% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's 2,962 Square kilometres is above the median for low income countries, which is 1,308 Square kilometres, 2.3× the median. (19 countries reporting)
- Malawi's 2,962 Square kilometres is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 2,619 Square kilometres, 1.1× the median. (37 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 844.88 Square kilometres | 844.88 Square kilometres | 844.88 Square kilometres | 1 |
| 2010s | 1,763 Square kilometres | 1,588 Square kilometres | 1,938 Square kilometres | 2 |
| 2020s | 2,939 Square kilometres | 2,915 Square kilometres | 2,962 Square kilometres | 2 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
- 61 Costa Rica 3,170 Square kilometres compare
- 62 Nicaragua 3,157 Square kilometres compare
- 63 Dominican Republic 2,989 Square kilometres compare
- 63 Melanesia 13,401 Square kilometres compare
- 65 Greece 2,951 Square kilometres compare
- 66 Guatemala 2,668 Square kilometres compare
- 67 Togo 2,649 Square kilometres compare
More environment data for Malawi
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -0.9153 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -0.8098 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.254 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.07 °C (2025)
- Sawnwood, coniferous — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Wood-based panels — Production, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 3.65 % 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)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land cover and land cover change — loss of cropland in Malawi?
- Land cover and land cover change — loss of cropland in Malawi was 2,962 Square kilometres in 2022, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest land cover and land cover change — loss of cropland recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 2,962 Square kilometres in 2022.
- What is the lowest land cover and land cover change — loss of cropland recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 844.88 Square kilometres in 2005.
- How does Malawi rank for land cover and land cover change — loss of cropland?
- Malawi ranks 64th out of 169 countries with data for 2022.
- Is land cover and land cover change — loss of cropland rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 86.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malawi data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Land cover and land cover change — Loss of cropland. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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About this data
The land cover dataset provides a global assessment of land cover and land cover change to monitor pressures on ecosystems and biodiversity. By using geospatial data with high spatio-temporal resolution, it develops a set of internationally comparable indicators with a long time series and a five-year interval from 2000 to 2022 for the Climate Change Initiative Land Cover dataset, and from 1975 to 2030 for the Global Human Settlement Layer dataset. Please see the working paper for a more complete description of the methods. The dataset has a global coverage on the national level, while on the sub-national TL2 level (i.e. large subnational regions) results are reported for all OECD countries as well as for Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa. The following country aggregates are included: Euro area, European Union, Advanced economies, Emerging market economies, G7, G20, OECD, OECD Europe, OECD Asia Oceania, OECD Americas, the LAC region and the World. Data source(s): Climate Change Initiative land cover data and Global Human Settlement Layer built-up area data. Contact: ENV.Stat@oecd.org Database documentation