Land use in Rwanda
Rwanda: Land use was 1.50 million hectares in 2023. ▲ Rising
Land use in Rwanda, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in hectares.
Analysis
Rwanda recorded 1.50 million hectares for land use in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 5.8% on the previous year and down 4.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land use in Rwanda peaked at 1.62 million hectares in 2021 and was at its lowest, 615,000 hectares, in 1961.
Rwanda ranks 102nd 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 | 655,000 hectares | 615,000 hectares | 697,000 hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 874,200 hectares | 704,000 hectares | 997,000 hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.10 million hectares | 1.01 million hectares | 1.15 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.12 million hectares | 1.00 million hectares | 1.19 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.42 million hectares | 1.31 million hectares | 1.47 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.56 million hectares | 1.49 million hectares | 1.60 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.57 million hectares | 1.50 million hectares | 1.62 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Rwanda
More environment data for Rwanda
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 8.35 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 0.5857 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 1.72 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.9152 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 0.9571 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0053 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 4.72 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0004 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0055 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 1.12 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land use in Rwanda?
- Land use in Rwanda was 1.50 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 Rwanda?
- The highest recorded value was 1.62 million hectares in 2021.
- What is the lowest land use recorded in Rwanda?
- The lowest recorded value was 615,000 hectares in 1961.
- How does Rwanda rank for land use?
- Rwanda ranks 102nd out of 223 countries with data for 2023.
- Is land use rising or falling in Rwanda?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Rwanda 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).