Land use in New Zealand
New Zealand: Land use was 592,000 hectares in 2023. ▲ Rising
Land use in New Zealand, 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 New Zealand is 592,000 hectares, measured in 2023.
That represents a change of down 2.1% on the previous year and down 4.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land use in New Zealand peaked at 690,000 hectares in 2021 and was at its lowest, 397,500 hectares, in 1974.
That places New Zealand 127th 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 | 406,000 hectares | 406,000 hectares | 406,000 hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 417,705 hectares | 397,500 hectares | 453,000 hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 466,250 hectares | 420,000 hectares | 512,000 hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 438,832 hectares | 427,000 hectares | 451,095 hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 483,698 hectares | 453,879 hectares | 542,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 588,740 hectares | 542,000 hectares | 657,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 622,000 hectares | 592,000 hectares | 690,000 hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
More environment data for New Zealand
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 77.84 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 14.71 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 29.69 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.0763 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 0.671 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0207 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 34.4 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0183 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0794 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 3.78 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land use in New Zealand?
- Land use in New Zealand was 592,000 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 New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 690,000 hectares in 2021.
- What is the lowest land use recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 397,500 hectares in 1974.
- How does New Zealand rank for land use?
- New Zealand ranks 127th out of 223 countries with data for 2023.
- Is land use rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this New Zealand 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).