What is land use over the long-term in France?

Land use over the long-term in France was 7.73 million hectares in 2025, according to HYDE (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.

What is the highest land use over the long-term recorded in France?

The highest recorded value was 29.74 million hectares in 1300.

What is the lowest land use over the long-term recorded in France?

The lowest recorded value was 7.73 million hectares in 2025.

How does France rank for land use over the long-term?

France ranks 57th out of 202 countries with data for 2025.

Is land use over the long-term rising or falling in France?

Over the last ten years it is down 16.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.

Where does this France data come from?

The figures come from HYDE (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Land use over the long-term. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Land use over the long-term in France

Name: Land use over the long-term in France
Creator: HYDE (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
License: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)

France: Land use over the long-term was 7.73 million hectares in 2025. ▼ Falling

Latest (2025)

7.73 million hectares

Change on year

down 3.3%

World rank

57th

of 202 countries

All-time high

29.74 million hectares

in 1300

All-time low

7.73 million hectares

in 2025

Years of data

108

1000–2025

Land use over the long-term in France, 1000–2025

Source: HYDE (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.

Analysis

In 2025, land use over the long-term in France stood at 7.73 million hectares. That is the lowest value across all 108 years on record.

That represents a change of down 3.3% on the previous year and down 16.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, land use over the long-term in France peaked at 29.74 million hectares in 1300 and was at its lowest, 7.73 million hectares, in 2025.

That places France 57th out of 202 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 108 years of available data.

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1000s	16.33 million hectares	16.33 million hectares	16.33 million hectares	1
1100s	24.73 million hectares	24.73 million hectares	24.73 million hectares	1
1200s	26.46 million hectares	26.46 million hectares	26.46 million hectares	1
1300s	29.74 million hectares	29.74 million hectares	29.74 million hectares	1
1400s	23.73 million hectares	23.73 million hectares	23.73 million hectares	1
1500s	23.31 million hectares	23.31 million hectares	23.31 million hectares	1
1600s	23.38 million hectares	23.38 million hectares	23.38 million hectares	1
1700s	27.27 million hectares	27.27 million hectares	27.27 million hectares	1
1710s	25.88 million hectares	25.88 million hectares	25.88 million hectares	1
1720s	24.36 million hectares	24.36 million hectares	24.36 million hectares	1
1730s	22.74 million hectares	22.74 million hectares	22.74 million hectares	1
1740s	21.00 million hectares	21.00 million hectares	21.00 million hectares	1
1750s	19.15 million hectares	19.15 million hectares	19.15 million hectares	1
1760s	18.74 million hectares	18.74 million hectares	18.74 million hectares	1
1770s	18.29 million hectares	18.29 million hectares	18.29 million hectares	1
1780s	17.80 million hectares	17.80 million hectares	17.80 million hectares	1
1790s	17.27 million hectares	17.27 million hectares	17.27 million hectares	1
1800s	16.71 million hectares	16.71 million hectares	16.71 million hectares	1
1810s	17.31 million hectares	17.31 million hectares	17.31 million hectares	1
1820s	17.68 million hectares	17.68 million hectares	17.68 million hectares	1
1830s	17.75 million hectares	17.75 million hectares	17.75 million hectares	1
1840s	17.95 million hectares	17.95 million hectares	17.95 million hectares	1
1850s	18.08 million hectares	18.08 million hectares	18.08 million hectares	1
1860s	17.77 million hectares	17.77 million hectares	17.77 million hectares	1
1870s	17.32 million hectares	17.32 million hectares	17.32 million hectares	1
1880s	17.13 million hectares	17.13 million hectares	17.13 million hectares	1
1890s	16.75 million hectares	16.75 million hectares	16.75 million hectares	1
1900s	16.27 million hectares	16.27 million hectares	16.27 million hectares	1
1910s	15.75 million hectares	15.75 million hectares	15.75 million hectares	1
1920s	14.23 million hectares	14.23 million hectares	14.23 million hectares	1
1930s	14.19 million hectares	14.19 million hectares	14.19 million hectares	1
1940s	13.28 million hectares	13.28 million hectares	13.28 million hectares	1
1950s	12.74 million hectares	12.64 million hectares	12.90 million hectares	10
1960s	13.45 million hectares	13.11 million hectares	13.91 million hectares	10
1970s	13.42 million hectares	12.91 million hectares	13.93 million hectares	10
1980s	12.29 million hectares	11.78 million hectares	12.85 million hectares	10
1990s	10.95 million hectares	10.43 million hectares	11.60 million hectares	10
2000s	9.99 million hectares	9.74 million hectares	10.31 million hectares	10
2010s	9.46 million hectares	9.23 million hectares	9.61 million hectares	10
2020s	8.35 million hectares	7.73 million hectares	8.75 million hectares	6

Countries ranked near France

54 New Zealand 8.68 million hectares compare
55 Syria 8.16 million hectares compare
56 Chile 7.74 million hectares compare
58 Ukraine 7.50 million hectares compare
59 Eritrea 6.90 million hectares compare
60 Burkina Faso 6.00 million hectares compare
60 Myanmar 6.00 million hectares compare

See the full ranking of 202 places →

More environment data for France

Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 378.12 Mt CO2e (2024)
Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 5.52 t CO2e/capita (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 42.25 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 2.45 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 3.31 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.1015 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 66.98 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.1903 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.1859 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 18.44 Mt CO2e (2024)

All data for France →

Frequently asked questions

What is land use over the long-term in France?: Land use over the long-term in France was 7.73 million hectares in 2025, according to HYDE (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest land use over the long-term recorded in France?: The highest recorded value was 29.74 million hectares in 1300.
What is the lowest land use over the long-term recorded in France?: The lowest recorded value was 7.73 million hectares in 2025.
How does France rank for land use over the long-term?: France ranks 57th out of 202 countries with data for 2025.
Is land use over the long-term rising or falling in France?: Over the last ten years it is down 16.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this France data come from?: The figures come from HYDE (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Land use over the long-term. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 108 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator: Land use over the long-term
Unit: hectares
Source: HYDE (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 202 places, 21,816 data points, 1000–2025
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Total grazingland area for each separate country over time.