Land cover and land cover change — Loss of cropland in Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries
Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries: Land cover and land cover change — Loss of cropland was 31,496 Square kilometres in 2022. ▲ Rising
Land cover and land cover change — Loss of cropland in Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries, 2005–2022
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Square kilometres.
Analysis
Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries recorded 31,496 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.
That represents a change of up 10.9% on the previous year and up 101.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land cover and land cover change — loss of cropland in Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries peaked at 31,496 Square kilometres in 2022 and was at its lowest, 7,265 Square kilometres, in 2005.
Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries ranks 55th of 753 regions on this measure, in the top 10%.
Land cover and land cover change — Loss of cropland in Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries, year by year
| Year | Square kilometres | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 7,265 Square kilometres | — |
| 2010 | 15,601 Square kilometres | +114.7% |
| 2015 | 19,839 Square kilometres | +27.2% |
| 2020 | 28,388 Square kilometres | +43.1% |
| 2022 | 31,496 Square kilometres | +10.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 7,265 Square kilometres | 7,265 Square kilometres | 7,265 Square kilometres | 1 |
| 2010s | 17,720 Square kilometres | 15,601 Square kilometres | 19,839 Square kilometres | 2 |
| 2020s | 29,942 Square kilometres | 28,388 Square kilometres | 31,496 Square kilometres | 2 |
Countries ranked near Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries
- 52 Eswatini 170.28 Square kilometres compare
- 52 Guinea 4,084 Square kilometres compare
- 53 United Kingdom 3,953 Square kilometres compare
- 53 Lesotho 144.62 Square kilometres compare
- 54 Mali 3,887 Square kilometres compare
- 55 Bulgaria 3,858 Square kilometres compare
- 56 Algeria 3,715 Square kilometres compare
- 57 Cabo Verde 4.89 Square kilometres compare
- 57 Democratic Republic of the Congo 27,282 Square kilometres compare
- 57 Peru 3,511 Square kilometres compare
- 58 Bangladesh 3,212 Square kilometres compare
More environment data for Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -9.17 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -15.41 Percentage change (2025)
- Exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -4.56 Percentage change (2024)
- Exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -4.15 Percentage change (2024)
- River flooding exposure — Cropland share exposed to river flooding 6.03 Percentage of agricultural land area (2022)
- Land cover and land cover change — Grassland 91,325 Square kilometres (2022)
- Land cover and land cover change — Gain of artificial surfaces 16,366 Square kilometres (2022)
All data for Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries →
Frequently asked questions
- What is land cover and land cover change — loss of cropland in Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries?
- Land cover and land cover change — loss of cropland in Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries was 31,496 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 Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries?
- The highest recorded value was 31,496 Square kilometres in 2022.
- What is the lowest land cover and land cover change — loss of cropland recorded in Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries?
- The lowest recorded value was 7,265 Square kilometres in 2005.
- How does Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries rank for land cover and land cover change — loss of cropland?
- Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries ranks 55th out of 753 regions with data for 2022.
- Is land cover and land cover change — loss of cropland rising or falling in Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries?
- Over the last ten years it is up 101.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Western Asia / Near and Middle East countries 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.
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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