Land cover and land cover change — Loss of cropland in Nigeria
Nigeria: Land cover and land cover change — Loss of cropland was 21,656 Square kilometres in 2022. ◆ Volatile
Land cover and land cover change — Loss of cropland in Nigeria, 2005–2022
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Square kilometres.
Analysis
The most recent figure for land cover and land cover change — loss of cropland in Nigeria is 21,656 Square kilometres, measured in 2022. That is the highest value across all 5 years on record.
That represents a change of up 23.5% on the previous year and up 284.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land cover and land cover change — loss of cropland in Nigeria peaked at 21,656 Square kilometres in 2022 and was at its lowest, 3,323 Square kilometres, in 2005.
That places Nigeria 9th out of 169 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the top 10%.
Land cover and land cover change — Loss of cropland in Nigeria, year by year
| Year | Square kilometres | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 3,323 Square kilometres | — |
| 2010 | 5,640 Square kilometres | +69.7% |
| 2015 | 7,695 Square kilometres | +36.4% |
| 2020 | 17,535 Square kilometres | +127.9% |
| 2022 | 21,656 Square kilometres | +23.5% |
Nigeria compared with similar countries
- Nigeria's 21,656 Square kilometres is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 3,157 Square kilometres, 6.9× the median. (41 countries reporting)
- Nigeria's 21,656 Square kilometres is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 2,619 Square kilometres, 8.3× the median. (37 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 3,323 Square kilometres | 3,323 Square kilometres | 3,323 Square kilometres | 1 |
| 2010s | 6,668 Square kilometres | 5,640 Square kilometres | 7,695 Square kilometres | 2 |
| 2020s | 19,596 Square kilometres | 17,535 Square kilometres | 21,656 Square kilometres | 2 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
- 6 Indonesia 50,011 Square kilometres compare
- 7 United States 49,608 Square kilometres compare
- 8 Tanzania 23,226 Square kilometres compare
- 10 Ukraine 17,820 Square kilometres compare
- 11 Malaysia 14,209 Square kilometres compare
- 12 Japan 13,196 Square kilometres compare
- 12 Ethiopia 20,612 Square kilometres compare
More environment data for Nigeria
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -5.73 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -5.07 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.281 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.15 °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 3.78 % 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 Nigeria?
- Land cover and land cover change — loss of cropland in Nigeria was 21,656 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 Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 21,656 Square kilometres in 2022.
- What is the lowest land cover and land cover change — loss of cropland recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 3,323 Square kilometres in 2005.
- How does Nigeria rank for land cover and land cover change — loss of cropland?
- Nigeria ranks 9th out of 169 countries with data for 2022.
- Is land cover and land cover change — loss of cropland rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 284.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Nigeria 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