Land use in Laos
Laos: Land use was 1.61 million hectares in 2023. ▲ Rising
Land use in Laos, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
The most recent figure for land use in Laos is 1.61 million hectares, measured in 2023.
That represents a change of up 1.7% on the previous year and down 3.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land use in Laos peaked at 1.75 million hectares in 2016 and was at its lowest, 650,000 hectares, in 1961.
Laos ranks 99th of 223 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 656,889 hectares | 650,000 hectares | 672,000 hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 749,900 hectares | 677,000 hectares | 805,000 hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 829,700 hectares | 806,000 hectares | 852,000 hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 896,900 hectares | 860,000 hectares | 958,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.22 million hectares | 1.00 million hectares | 1.47 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.64 million hectares | 1.50 million hectares | 1.75 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.56 million hectares | 1.53 million hectares | 1.61 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Laos
- 96 Burundi 1.67 million hectares compare
- 97 Turkmenistan 1.63 million hectares compare
- 98 Honduras 1.62 million hectares compare
- 100 Dominican Republic 1.52 million hectares compare
- 101 South Korea 1.51 million hectares compare
- 102 Rwanda 1.50 million hectares compare
More environment data for Laos
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 41.55 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 5.35 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 9.63 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.5411 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 1.65 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0059 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 12.32 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.005 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0081 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 0.4771 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land use in Laos?
- Land use in Laos was 1.61 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 Laos?
- The highest recorded value was 1.75 million hectares in 2016.
- What is the lowest land use recorded in Laos?
- The lowest recorded value was 650,000 hectares in 1961.
- How does Laos rank for land use?
- Laos ranks 99th out of 223 countries with data for 2023.
- Is land use rising or falling in Laos?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Laos 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).