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

Land use over the long-term in Nigeria was 25.06 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 Nigeria?

The highest recorded value was 27.59 million hectares in 1950.

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

The lowest recorded value was 9.61 million hectares in 1000.

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

Nigeria ranks 29th out of 202 countries with data for 2025.

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

Over the last ten years it is down 0.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this Nigeria 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 Nigeria

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

Nigeria: Land use over the long-term was 25.06 million hectares in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)

25.06 million hectares

Change on year

down 0.1%

World rank

29th

of 202 countries

All-time high

27.59 million hectares

in 1950

All-time low

9.61 million hectares

in 1000

Years of data

108

1000–2025

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

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for land use over the long-term in Nigeria is 25.06 million hectares, measured in 2025.

The figure is down 0.1% on the previous year and down 0.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, land use over the long-term in Nigeria peaked at 27.59 million hectares in 1950 and was at its lowest, 9.61 million hectares, in 1000.

That places Nigeria 29th out of 202 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.

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

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1000s	9.61 million hectares	9.61 million hectares	9.61 million hectares	1
1100s	10.10 million hectares	10.10 million hectares	10.10 million hectares	1
1200s	10.56 million hectares	10.56 million hectares	10.56 million hectares	1
1300s	11.65 million hectares	11.65 million hectares	11.65 million hectares	1
1400s	12.69 million hectares	12.69 million hectares	12.69 million hectares	1
1500s	13.68 million hectares	13.68 million hectares	13.68 million hectares	1
1600s	17.07 million hectares	17.07 million hectares	17.07 million hectares	1
1700s	21.52 million hectares	21.52 million hectares	21.52 million hectares	1
1710s	20.87 million hectares	20.87 million hectares	20.87 million hectares	1
1720s	20.24 million hectares	20.24 million hectares	20.24 million hectares	1
1730s	19.63 million hectares	19.63 million hectares	19.63 million hectares	1
1740s	19.03 million hectares	19.03 million hectares	19.03 million hectares	1
1750s	18.44 million hectares	18.44 million hectares	18.44 million hectares	1
1760s	17.88 million hectares	17.88 million hectares	17.88 million hectares	1
1770s	17.32 million hectares	17.32 million hectares	17.32 million hectares	1
1780s	16.79 million hectares	16.79 million hectares	16.79 million hectares	1
1790s	16.26 million hectares	16.26 million hectares	16.26 million hectares	1
1800s	15.76 million hectares	15.76 million hectares	15.76 million hectares	1
1810s	15.26 million hectares	15.26 million hectares	15.26 million hectares	1
1820s	14.78 million hectares	14.78 million hectares	14.78 million hectares	1
1830s	14.31 million hectares	14.31 million hectares	14.31 million hectares	1
1840s	13.85 million hectares	13.85 million hectares	13.85 million hectares	1
1850s	13.41 million hectares	13.41 million hectares	13.41 million hectares	1
1860s	13.66 million hectares	13.66 million hectares	13.66 million hectares	1
1870s	13.97 million hectares	13.97 million hectares	13.97 million hectares	1
1880s	14.44 million hectares	14.44 million hectares	14.44 million hectares	1
1890s	15.08 million hectares	15.08 million hectares	15.08 million hectares	1
1900s	15.64 million hectares	15.64 million hectares	15.64 million hectares	1
1910s	16.78 million hectares	16.78 million hectares	16.78 million hectares	1
1920s	18.03 million hectares	18.03 million hectares	18.03 million hectares	1
1930s	20.71 million hectares	20.71 million hectares	20.71 million hectares	1
1940s	23.55 million hectares	23.55 million hectares	23.55 million hectares	1
1950s	27.20 million hectares	26.99 million hectares	27.59 million hectares	10
1960s	27.00 million hectares	26.99 million hectares	27.00 million hectares	10
1970s	26.89 million hectares	26.60 million hectares	27.00 million hectares	10
1980s	26.39 million hectares	26.21 million hectares	26.57 million hectares	10
1990s	25.95 million hectares	24.86 million hectares	26.64 million hectares	10
2000s	24.12 million hectares	23.47 million hectares	24.71 million hectares	10
2010s	24.97 million hectares	24.55 million hectares	25.28 million hectares	10
2020s	25.09 million hectares	25.02 million hectares	25.14 million hectares	6

Countries ranked near Nigeria

26 Iran 29.48 million hectares compare
27 Niger 28.78 million hectares compare
28 Botswana 25.60 million hectares compare
30 Tanzania 24.00 million hectares compare
31 Yemen 22.00 million hectares compare
32 Kenya 21.30 million hectares compare

See the full ranking of 202 places →

More environment data for Nigeria

Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 350.56 Mt CO2e (2024)
Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 1.51 t CO2e/capita (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 56.75 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 8.67 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 75.63 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.1661 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 175.13 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0267 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.5526 Mt CO2e (2024)
Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 33.33 Mt CO2e (2024)

All data for Nigeria →

Frequently asked questions

What is land use over the long-term in Nigeria?: Land use over the long-term in Nigeria was 25.06 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 Nigeria?: The highest recorded value was 27.59 million hectares in 1950.
What is the lowest land use over the long-term recorded in Nigeria?: The lowest recorded value was 9.61 million hectares in 1000.
How does Nigeria rank for land use over the long-term?: Nigeria ranks 29th out of 202 countries with data for 2025.
Is land use over the long-term rising or falling in Nigeria?: Over the last ten years it is down 0.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Nigeria 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.