Land use in South Sudan

South Sudan: Land use was 2.57 million hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
2.57 million hectares
Change on year
up 3.8%
World rank
78th
of 223 countries
All-time high
2.72 million hectares
in 2012
All-time low
2.48 million hectares
in 2018
Years of data
12
2012–2023

Land use in South Sudan, 2012–2023

01.0M2.0M3.0M2012201720232012: 2.7M hectares2013: 2.7M hectares2014: 2.7M hectares2015: 2.6M hectares2016: 2.6M hectares2017: 2.5M hectares2018: 2.5M hectares2019: 2.5M hectares2020: 2.5M hectares2021: 2.5M hectares2022: 2.5M hectares2023: 2.6M hectares

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 South Sudan stood at 2.57 million hectares.

The figure is up 3.8% on the previous year and down 4.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, land use in South Sudan peaked at 2.72 million hectares in 2012 and was at its lowest, 2.48 million hectares, in 2018.

South Sudan ranks 78th of 223 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 12 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 2.60 million hectares 2.48 million hectares 2.72 million hectares 8
2020s 2.50 million hectares 2.48 million hectares 2.57 million hectares 4

Countries ranked near South Sudan

  1. 75 Serbia 2.82 million hectares compare
  2. 76 Guatemala 2.74 million hectares compare
  3. 77 Central African Republic 2.68 million hectares compare
  4. 79 Sri Lanka 2.57 million hectares compare
  5. 80 Czechia 2.57 million hectares compare
  6. 81 North Korea 2.55 million hectares compare

See the full ranking of 225 places →

More environment data for South Sudan

All data for South Sudan →

Frequently asked questions

What is land use in South Sudan?
Land use in South Sudan was 2.57 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 South Sudan?
The highest recorded value was 2.72 million hectares in 2012.
What is the lowest land use recorded in South Sudan?
The lowest recorded value was 2.48 million hectares in 2018.
How does South Sudan rank for land use?
South Sudan ranks 78th out of 223 countries with data for 2023.
Is land use rising or falling in South Sudan?
Over the last ten years it is down 4.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this South Sudan 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 — 12 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Land use
Unit
hectares
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
225 places, 13,015 data points, 1961–2023
Last refreshed