Land use in Ethiopia
Ethiopia: Land use was 18.46 million hectares in 2023. ▲ Rising
Latest (2023)
18.46 million hectares
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
18th
of 223 countries
All-time high
18.77 million hectares
in 2021
All-time low
10.45 million hectares
in 1998
Years of data
31
1993–2023
Land use in Ethiopia, 1993–2023
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 Ethiopia stood at 18.46 million hectares.
The figure is up 10.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land use in Ethiopia peaked at 18.77 million hectares in 2021 and was at its lowest, 10.45 million hectares, in 1998.
Ethiopia ranks 18th of 223 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 31 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 10.50 million hectares | 10.45 million hectares | 10.56 million hectares | 7 |
| 2000s | 12.87 million hectares | 10.50 million hectares | 15.08 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 17.04 million hectares | 15.68 million hectares | 18.19 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 18.54 million hectares | 18.46 million hectares | 18.77 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Ethiopia
More environment data for Ethiopia
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 192.7 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 1.46 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 87.11 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 12.61 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 18.3 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0131 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 131.63 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0409 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 13.56 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land use in Ethiopia?
- Land use in Ethiopia was 18.46 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 Ethiopia?
- The highest recorded value was 18.77 million hectares in 2021.
- What is the lowest land use recorded in Ethiopia?
- The lowest recorded value was 10.45 million hectares in 1998.
- How does Ethiopia rank for land use?
- Ethiopia ranks 18th out of 223 countries with data for 2023.
- Is land use rising or falling in Ethiopia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 10.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Ethiopia 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 — 31 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).