Land use in Barbados
Barbados: Land use was 8,000 hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling
Land use in Barbados, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
Barbados recorded 8,000 hectares for land use in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 63 years on record.
That represents a change of down 23.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land use in Barbados peaked at 17,000 hectares in 1961 and was at its lowest, 8,000 hectares, in 2016.
That places Barbados 186th out of 223 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 17,000 hectares | 17,000 hectares | 17,000 hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 17,000 hectares | 17,000 hectares | 17,000 hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 17,000 hectares | 17,000 hectares | 17,000 hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 16,900 hectares | 16,000 hectares | 17,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 14,600 hectares | 14,000 hectares | 16,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 9,750 hectares | 8,000 hectares | 13,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 8,000 hectares | 8,000 hectares | 8,000 hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Barbados
- 183 New Caledonia 9,700 hectares compare
- 184 Saint Lucia 9,570 hectares compare
- 186 Guam 8,000 hectares compare
- 186 Netherlands Antilles 8,000 hectares compare
- 189 Grenada 7,000 hectares compare
- 189 Marshall Islands 7,000 hectares compare
More environment data for Barbados
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 0.9121 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 3.23 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 0.0279 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.0006 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 0.0155 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0001 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 0.1624 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0004 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.001 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 0.1171 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land use in Barbados?
- Land use in Barbados was 8,000 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 Barbados?
- The highest recorded value was 17,000 hectares in 1961.
- What is the lowest land use recorded in Barbados?
- The lowest recorded value was 8,000 hectares in 2016.
- How does Barbados rank for land use?
- Barbados ranks 186th out of 223 countries with data for 2023.
- Is land use rising or falling in Barbados?
- Over the last ten years it is down 23.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Barbados 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).