Land use in Bulgaria
Bulgaria: Land use was 3.62 million hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling
Land use in Bulgaria, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
In 2023, land use in Bulgaria stood at 3.62 million hectares.
That represents a change of up 0.4% on the previous year and up 0.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land use in Bulgaria peaked at 4.62 million hectares in 1961 and was at its lowest, 3.27 million hectares, in 2008.
Bulgaria ranks 69th of 223 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 4.56 million hectares | 4.53 million hectares | 4.62 million hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 4.41 million hectares | 4.25 million hectares | 4.53 million hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 4.15 million hectares | 4.13 million hectares | 4.18 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 4.20 million hectares | 3.82 million hectares | 4.50 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 3.47 million hectares | 3.27 million hectares | 3.78 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.56 million hectares | 3.35 million hectares | 3.64 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.63 million hectares | 3.61 million hectares | 3.65 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Bulgaria
More environment data for Bulgaria
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 46.68 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 7.25 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 2.05 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.2479 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 0.7282 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0131 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 7.37 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.022 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0476 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 4.26 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land use in Bulgaria?
- Land use in Bulgaria was 3.62 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 Bulgaria?
- The highest recorded value was 4.62 million hectares in 1961.
- What is the lowest land use recorded in Bulgaria?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.27 million hectares in 2008.
- How does Bulgaria rank for land use?
- Bulgaria ranks 69th out of 223 countries with data for 2023.
- Is land use rising or falling in Bulgaria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Bulgaria 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).