Land use over the long-term in Japan
Japan: Land use over the long-term was 294,800 hectares in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
294,800 hectares
Change on year
down 1.3%
World rank
135th
of 202 countries
All-time high
1.17 million hectares
in 1951
All-time low
133,378 hectares
in 1100
Years of data
108
1000–2025
Land use over the long-term in Japan, 1000–2025
Source: HYDE (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
Japan recorded 294,800 hectares for land use over the long-term in 2025.
That represents a change of down 1.3% on the previous year and down 15.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land use over the long-term in Japan peaked at 1.17 million hectares in 1951 and was at its lowest, 133,378 hectares, in 1100.
That places Japan 135th out of 202 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 108 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000s | 143,368 hectares | 143,368 hectares | 143,368 hectares | 1 |
| 1100s | 133,378 hectares | 133,378 hectares | 133,378 hectares | 1 |
| 1200s | 136,281 hectares | 136,281 hectares | 136,281 hectares | 1 |
| 1300s | 153,761 hectares | 153,761 hectares | 153,761 hectares | 1 |
| 1400s | 174,266 hectares | 174,266 hectares | 174,266 hectares | 1 |
| 1500s | 227,680 hectares | 227,680 hectares | 227,680 hectares | 1 |
| 1600s | 310,673 hectares | 310,673 hectares | 310,673 hectares | 1 |
| 1700s | 481,473 hectares | 481,473 hectares | 481,473 hectares | 1 |
| 1710s | 515,803 hectares | 515,803 hectares | 515,803 hectares | 1 |
| 1720s | 588,460 hectares | 588,460 hectares | 588,460 hectares | 1 |
| 1730s | 582,939 hectares | 582,939 hectares | 582,939 hectares | 1 |
| 1740s | 577,455 hectares | 577,455 hectares | 577,455 hectares | 1 |
| 1750s | 519,888 hectares | 519,888 hectares | 519,888 hectares | 1 |
| 1760s | 511,054 hectares | 511,054 hectares | 511,054 hectares | 1 |
| 1770s | 502,004 hectares | 502,004 hectares | 502,004 hectares | 1 |
| 1780s | 443,472 hectares | 443,472 hectares | 443,472 hectares | 1 |
| 1790s | 434,999 hectares | 434,999 hectares | 434,999 hectares | 1 |
| 1800s | 426,414 hectares | 426,414 hectares | 426,414 hectares | 1 |
| 1810s | 432,785 hectares | 432,785 hectares | 432,785 hectares | 1 |
| 1820s | 438,729 hectares | 438,729 hectares | 438,729 hectares | 1 |
| 1830s | 514,057 hectares | 514,057 hectares | 514,057 hectares | 1 |
| 1840s | 522,635 hectares | 522,635 hectares | 522,635 hectares | 1 |
| 1850s | 530,993 hectares | 530,993 hectares | 530,993 hectares | 1 |
| 1860s | 495,589 hectares | 495,589 hectares | 495,589 hectares | 1 |
| 1870s | 507,905 hectares | 507,905 hectares | 507,905 hectares | 1 |
| 1880s | 538,382 hectares | 538,382 hectares | 538,382 hectares | 1 |
| 1890s | 521,509 hectares | 521,509 hectares | 521,509 hectares | 1 |
| 1900s | 575,554 hectares | 575,554 hectares | 575,554 hectares | 1 |
| 1910s | 639,216 hectares | 639,216 hectares | 639,216 hectares | 1 |
| 1920s | 700,796 hectares | 700,796 hectares | 700,796 hectares | 1 |
| 1930s | 796,073 hectares | 796,073 hectares | 796,073 hectares | 1 |
| 1940s | 1.03 million hectares | 1.03 million hectares | 1.03 million hectares | 1 |
| 1950s | 1.03 million hectares | 955,008 hectares | 1.17 million hectares | 10 |
| 1960s | 990,000 hectares | 900,000 hectares | 1.10 million hectares | 10 |
| 1970s | 765,400 hectares | 702,000 hectares | 900,000 hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 643,200 hectares | 599,000 hectares | 691,000 hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 528,800 hectares | 455,000 hectares | 589,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 394,400 hectares | 365,600 hectares | 428,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 345,000 hectares | 318,000 hectares | 360,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 304,400 hectares | 294,800 hectares | 310,000 hectares | 6 |
Countries ranked near Japan
More environment data for Japan
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 1,063 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 8.58 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 38.9 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 1.04 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 3.5 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.3162 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 50.87 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.6478 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.4564 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 5.74 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land use over the long-term in Japan?
- Land use over the long-term in Japan was 294,800 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 Japan?
- The highest recorded value was 1.17 million hectares in 1951.
- What is the lowest land use over the long-term recorded in Japan?
- The lowest recorded value was 133,378 hectares in 1100.
- How does Japan rank for land use over the long-term?
- Japan ranks 135th out of 202 countries with data for 2025.
- Is land use over the long-term rising or falling in Japan?
- Over the last ten years it is down 15.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Japan 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
Total grazingland area for each separate country over time.