Land use in Turkey
Turkey: Land use was 23.97 million hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling
Latest (2023)
23.97 million hectares
Change on year
up 0.4%
World rank
16th
of 224 countries
All-time high
28.79 million hectares
in 1979
All-time low
23.10 million hectares
in 2019
Years of data
63
1961–2023
Land use in Turkey, 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 Turkey is 23.97 million hectares, measured in 2023.
That represents a change of up 0.4% on the previous year and up 0.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land use in Turkey peaked at 28.79 million hectares in 1979 and was at its lowest, 23.10 million hectares, in 2019.
Turkey ranks 16th of 224 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Land use in Turkey, year by year
| Year | hectares | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 25.17 million hectares | — |
| 1962 | 25.35 million hectares | +0.7% |
| 1963 | 26.12 million hectares | +3.0% |
| 1964 | 26.09 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 1965 | 26.15 million hectares | +0.2% |
| 1966 | 26.38 million hectares | +0.9% |
| 1967 | 26.25 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 1968 | 26.60 million hectares | +1.3% |
| 1969 | 27.74 million hectares | +4.3% |
| 1970 | 27.38 million hectares | -1.3% |
| 1971 | 27.61 million hectares | +0.9% |
| 1972 | 28.23 million hectares | +2.2% |
| 1973 | 28.29 million hectares | +0.2% |
| 1974 | 27.93 million hectares | -1.3% |
| 1975 | 27.66 million hectares | -1.0% |
| 1976 | 27.70 million hectares | +0.1% |
| 1977 | 27.93 million hectares | +0.8% |
| 1978 | 28.05 million hectares | +0.4% |
| 1979 | 28.79 million hectares | +2.7% |
| 1980 | 28.48 million hectares | -1.1% |
| 1981 | 28.51 million hectares | +0.1% |
| 1982 | 27.09 million hectares | -5.0% |
| 1983 | 26.62 million hectares | -1.7% |
| 1984 | 27.41 million hectares | +3.0% |
| 1985 | 27.53 million hectares | +0.4% |
| 1986 | 27.48 million hectares | -0.2% |
| 1987 | 27.93 million hectares | +1.6% |
| 1988 | 27.76 million hectares | -0.6% |
| 1989 | 27.90 million hectares | +0.5% |
| 1990 | 27.68 million hectares | -0.8% |
| 1991 | 27.69 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 27.53 million hectares | -0.6% |
| 1993 | 27.54 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 27.77 million hectares | +0.9% |
| 1995 | 27.11 million hectares | -2.4% |
| 1996 | 26.99 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 1997 | 26.86 million hectares | -0.5% |
| 1998 | 26.97 million hectares | +0.4% |
| 1999 | 26.80 million hectares | -0.6% |
| 2000 | 26.38 million hectares | -1.6% |
| 2001 | 26.35 million hectares | -0.1% |
| 2002 | 26.58 million hectares | +0.9% |
| 2003 | 26.03 million hectares | -2.1% |
| 2004 | 26.59 million hectares | +2.2% |
| 2005 | 26.61 million hectares | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 25.88 million hectares | -2.7% |
| 2007 | 24.89 million hectares | -3.8% |
| 2008 | 24.50 million hectares | -1.5% |
| 2009 | 24.29 million hectares | -0.9% |
| 2010 | 24.39 million hectares | +0.4% |
| 2011 | 23.63 million hectares | -3.1% |
| 2012 | 23.79 million hectares | +0.7% |
| 2013 | 23.81 million hectares | +0.1% |
| 2014 | 23.94 million hectares | +0.6% |
| 2015 | 23.93 million hectares | -0.0% |
| 2016 | 23.71 million hectares | -0.9% |
| 2017 | 23.35 million hectares | -1.5% |
| 2018 | 23.18 million hectares | -0.7% |
| 2019 | 23.10 million hectares | -0.3% |
| 2020 | 23.14 million hectares | +0.2% |
| 2021 | 23.47 million hectares | +1.4% |
| 2022 | 23.88 million hectares | +1.7% |
| 2023 | 23.97 million hectares | +0.4% |
Turkey compared with similar countries
- Turkey's 23.97 million hectares is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 1.58 million hectares, 15.2× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- Turkey's 23.97 million hectares is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 1.39 million hectares, 17.3× the median. (53 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 26.21 million hectares | 25.17 million hectares | 27.74 million hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 27.96 million hectares | 27.38 million hectares | 28.79 million hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 27.67 million hectares | 26.62 million hectares | 28.51 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 27.29 million hectares | 26.80 million hectares | 27.77 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 25.81 million hectares | 24.29 million hectares | 26.61 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 23.68 million hectares | 23.10 million hectares | 24.39 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 23.62 million hectares | 23.14 million hectares | 23.97 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Turkey
More environment data for Turkey
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 2.74 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate 0.6763 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), annual 3.04 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), per unit of 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) (Mt CO2e) 9.48 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land use in Turkey?
- Land use in Turkey was 23.97 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 Turkey?
- The highest recorded value was 28.79 million hectares in 1979.
- What is the lowest land use recorded in Turkey?
- The lowest recorded value was 23.10 million hectares in 2019.
- How does Turkey rank for land use?
- Turkey ranks 16th out of 224 countries with data for 2023.
- Is land use rising or falling in Turkey?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Turkey 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).