Land use in Madagascar
Madagascar: Land use was 3.60 million hectares in 2023. ▲ Rising
Land use in Madagascar, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
Madagascar recorded 3.60 million hectares for land use in 2023. That is the highest value across all 63 years on record.
That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, land use in Madagascar peaked at 3.60 million hectares in 2005 and was at its lowest, 2.15 million hectares, in 1961.
That places Madagascar 70th out of 223 countries with data for 2023, putting it 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 | 2.25 million hectares | 2.15 million hectares | 2.35 million hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 2.66 million hectares | 2.37 million hectares | 3.02 million hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 3.17 million hectares | 3.04 million hectares | 3.29 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 3.45 million hectares | 3.33 million hectares | 3.50 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 3.57 million hectares | 3.50 million hectares | 3.60 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.60 million hectares | 3.60 million hectares | 3.60 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.60 million hectares | 3.60 million hectares | 3.60 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Madagascar
More environment data for Madagascar
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 35.79 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 1.12 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 17.89 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 1.74 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 3.06 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0204 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 25.4 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0018 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0078 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 2.67 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land use in Madagascar?
- Land use in Madagascar was 3.60 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 Madagascar?
- The highest recorded value was 3.60 million hectares in 2005.
- What is the lowest land use recorded in Madagascar?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.15 million hectares in 1961.
- How does Madagascar rank for land use?
- Madagascar ranks 70th out of 223 countries with data for 2023.
- Is land use rising or falling in Madagascar?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Madagascar 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).