Land use in Australia
Australia: Land use was 31.37 million hectares in 2023. ▲ Rising
Latest (2023)
31.37 million hectares
Change on year
down 0.9%
World rank
12th
of 224 countries
All-time high
32.31 million hectares
in 2014
All-time low
13.75 million hectares
in 1975
Years of data
63
1961–2023
Land use in Australia, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
Australia recorded 31.37 million hectares for land use in 2023.
The figure is down 0.9% on the previous year and down 0.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land use in Australia peaked at 32.31 million hectares in 2014 and was at its lowest, 13.75 million hectares, in 1975.
Australia ranks 12th of 224 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.
Land use in Australia, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 14.55 million hectares | — |
| 1962 | 15.69 million hectares | +7.9% |
| 1963 | 15.56 million hectares | -0.8% |
| 1964 | 16.48 million hectares | +5.9% |
| 1965 | 17.51 million hectares | +6.3% |
| 1966 | 18.97 million hectares | +8.3% |
| 1967 | 19.46 million hectares | +2.6% |
| 1968 | 21.60 million hectares | +11.0% |
| 1969 | 19.82 million hectares | -8.2% |
| 1970 | 18.68 million hectares | -5.8% |
| 1971 | 17.05 million hectares | -8.7% |
| 1972 | 17.23 million hectares | +1.1% |
| 1973 | 15.10 million hectares | -12.4% |
| 1974 | 14.96 million hectares | -1.0% |
| 1975 | 13.75 million hectares | -8.1% |
| 1976 | 14.64 million hectares | +6.5% |
| 1977 | 15.01 million hectares | +2.5% |
| 1978 | 16.80 million hectares | +11.9% |
| 1979 | 17.44 million hectares | +3.8% |
| 1980 | 17.95 million hectares | +3.0% |
| 1981 | 18.40 million hectares | +2.5% |
| 1982 | 19.61 million hectares | +6.6% |
| 1983 | 19.42 million hectares | -1.0% |
| 1984 | 21.91 million hectares | +12.8% |
| 1985 | 21.14 million hectares | -3.5% |
| 1986 | 20.85 million hectares | -1.3% |
| 1987 | 19.77 million hectares | -5.2% |
| 1988 | 18.36 million hectares | -7.1% |
| 1989 | 17.70 million hectares | -3.6% |
| 1990 | 17.14 million hectares | -3.2% |
| 1991 | 17.38 million hectares | +1.4% |
| 1992 | 16.40 million hectares | -5.6% |
| 1993 | 17.30 million hectares | +5.4% |
| 1994 | 18.04 million hectares | +4.3% |
| 1995 | 17.04 million hectares | -5.6% |
| 1996 | 19.41 million hectares | +13.9% |
| 1997 | 21.13 million hectares | +8.9% |
| 1998 | 21.59 million hectares | +2.2% |
| 1999 | 23.26 million hectares | +7.7% |
| 2000 | 23.77 million hectares | +2.2% |
| 2001 | 24.52 million hectares | +3.2% |
| 2002 | 24.06 million hectares | -1.9% |
| 2003 | 23.57 million hectares | -2.0% |
| 2004 | 26.08 million hectares | +10.6% |
| 2005 | 26.74 million hectares | +2.5% |
| 2006 | 24.57 million hectares | -8.1% |
| 2007 | 23.53 million hectares | -4.2% |
| 2008 | 24.37 million hectares | +3.6% |
| 2009 | 27.51 million hectares | +12.9% |
| 2010 | 25.97 million hectares | -5.6% |
| 2011 | 32.08 million hectares | +23.5% |
| 2012 | 31.99 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 2013 | 31.61 million hectares | -1.2% |
| 2014 | 32.31 million hectares | +2.2% |
| 2015 | 31.40 million hectares | -2.8% |
| 2016 | 30.38 million hectares | -3.2% |
| 2017 | 31.07 million hectares | +2.3% |
| 2018 | 31.31 million hectares | +0.7% |
| 2019 | 30.92 million hectares | -1.2% |
| 2020 | 31.00 million hectares | +0.2% |
| 2021 | 31.65 million hectares | +2.1% |
| 2022 | 31.65 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 31.37 million hectares | -0.9% |
Australia compared with similar countries
- Australia's 31.37 million hectares is above the median for high income countries, which is 303,040 hectares, 103.5× the median. (78 countries reporting)
- Australia's 31.37 million hectares is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 141,800 hectares, 221.3× the median. (36 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 17.74 million hectares | 14.55 million hectares | 21.60 million hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 16.07 million hectares | 13.75 million hectares | 18.68 million hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 19.51 million hectares | 17.70 million hectares | 21.91 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 18.87 million hectares | 16.40 million hectares | 23.26 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 24.87 million hectares | 23.53 million hectares | 27.51 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 30.90 million hectares | 25.97 million hectares | 32.31 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 31.42 million hectares | 31.00 million hectares | 31.65 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More environment data for Australia
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -4.75 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -5.98 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.345 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.4 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 0.6708 % 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)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate 0.0861 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land use in Australia?
- Land use in Australia was 31.37 million hectares in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest land use recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 32.31 million hectares in 2014.
- What is the lowest land use recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 13.75 million hectares in 1975.
- How does Australia rank for land use?
- Australia ranks 12th out of 224 countries with data for 2023.
- Is land use rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Land use. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 63 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).