Land use in Nigeria
Nigeria: Land use was 44.23 million hectares in 2023. ▲ Rising
Land use in Nigeria, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
In 2023, land use in Nigeria stood at 44.23 million hectares. That is the highest value across all 63 years on record.
The figure is up 0.5% on the previous year and up 5.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land use in Nigeria peaked at 44.23 million hectares in 2023 and was at its lowest, 27.18 million hectares, in 1961.
Nigeria ranks 6th of 223 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 27.60 million hectares | 27.18 million hectares | 27.95 million hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 28.85 million hectares | 28.15 million hectares | 29.73 million hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 30.91 million hectares | 29.98 million hectares | 31.89 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 36.54 million hectares | 32.07 million hectares | 40.50 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 41.92 million hectares | 40.80 million hectares | 43.30 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 42.43 million hectares | 42.08 million hectares | 43.35 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 43.91 million hectares | 43.67 million hectares | 44.23 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
More environment data for Nigeria
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 350.56 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 1.51 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 56.75 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 8.67 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 75.63 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.1661 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 175.13 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0267 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.5526 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 33.33 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land use in Nigeria?
- Land use in Nigeria was 44.23 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 Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 44.23 million hectares in 2023.
- What is the lowest land use recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 27.18 million hectares in 1961.
- How does Nigeria rank for land use?
- Nigeria ranks 6th out of 223 countries with data for 2023.
- Is land use rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Nigeria 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).