Land use in Mauritania
Mauritania: Land use was 460,000 hectares in 2023. ▲ Rising
Land use in Mauritania, 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 Mauritania is 460,000 hectares, measured 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 Mauritania peaked at 460,000 hectares in 1994 and was at its lowest, 196,000 hectares, in 1975.
Mauritania ranks 131st 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 | 273,889 hectares | 272,000 hectares | 283,000 hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 218,900 hectares | 196,000 hectares | 283,000 hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 298,600 hectares | 214,000 hectares | 385,000 hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 445,000 hectares | 406,000 hectares | 460,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 460,000 hectares | 460,000 hectares | 460,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 460,000 hectares | 460,000 hectares | 460,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 460,000 hectares | 460,000 hectares | 460,000 hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Mauritania
- 128 Costa Rica 544,348 hectares compare
- 129 Armenia 503,400 hectares compare
- 130 Gabon 495,000 hectares compare
- 132 North Macedonia 456,000 hectares compare
- 133 Gambia 447,000 hectares compare
- 134 Bosnia and Herzegovina 444,000 hectares compare
More environment data for Mauritania
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 17.51 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 3.39 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 7.33 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.2865 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 0.7099 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0008 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 9.3 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.001 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0174 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 0.9576 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land use in Mauritania?
- Land use in Mauritania was 460,000 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 Mauritania?
- The highest recorded value was 460,000 hectares in 1994.
- What is the lowest land use recorded in Mauritania?
- The lowest recorded value was 196,000 hectares in 1975.
- How does Mauritania rank for land use?
- Mauritania ranks 131st out of 223 countries with data for 2023.
- Is land use rising or falling in Mauritania?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Mauritania 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).