Land use in Japan
Japan: Land use was 4.30 million hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling
Land use in Japan, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
Japan recorded 4.30 million hectares for land use in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 63 years on record.
The figure is down 0.6% on the previous year and down 5.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land use in Japan peaked at 6.03 million hectares in 1964 and was at its lowest, 4.30 million hectares, in 2023.
That places Japan 60th out of 223 countries with data for 2023, putting it 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 | 5.96 million hectares | 5.75 million hectares | 6.03 million hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 5.61 million hectares | 5.47 million hectares | 5.80 million hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 5.38 million hectares | 5.28 million hectares | 5.46 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 5.06 million hectares | 4.87 million hectares | 5.24 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 4.71 million hectares | 4.61 million hectares | 4.83 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.50 million hectares | 4.40 million hectares | 4.59 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.34 million hectares | 4.30 million hectares | 4.37 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Japan
More environment data for Japan
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 1,063 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 8.58 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 38.9 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 1.04 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 3.5 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.3162 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 50.87 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.6478 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.4564 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 5.74 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land use in Japan?
- Land use in Japan was 4.30 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 Japan?
- The highest recorded value was 6.03 million hectares in 1964.
- What is the lowest land use recorded in Japan?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.30 million hectares in 2023.
- How does Japan rank for land use?
- Japan ranks 60th out of 223 countries with data for 2023.
- Is land use rising or falling in Japan?
- Over the last ten years it is down 5.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Japan 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).