Land use in Vanuatu
Vanuatu: Land use was 145,000 hectares in 2023. ▲ Rising
Land use in Vanuatu, 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 Vanuatu stood at 145,000 hectares. That is the highest value across all 63 years on record.
That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, land use in Vanuatu peaked at 145,000 hectares in 2007 and was at its lowest, 80,000 hectares, in 1961.
That places Vanuatu 147th 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 | 84,444 hectares | 80,000 hectares | 88,000 hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 98,400 hectares | 95,000 hectares | 103,000 hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 107,600 hectares | 103,000 hectares | 115,000 hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 124,200 hectares | 117,000 hectares | 131,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 140,000 hectares | 133,000 hectares | 145,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 145,000 hectares | 145,000 hectares | 145,000 hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 145,000 hectares | 145,000 hectares | 145,000 hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Vanuatu
More environment data for Vanuatu
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 0.6321 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 1.93 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 0.1832 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 0.0079 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 0.0021 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0001 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 0.2757 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0001 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0003 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 0.0821 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land use in Vanuatu?
- Land use in Vanuatu was 145,000 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 Vanuatu?
- The highest recorded value was 145,000 hectares in 2007.
- What is the lowest land use recorded in Vanuatu?
- The lowest recorded value was 80,000 hectares in 1961.
- How does Vanuatu rank for land use?
- Vanuatu ranks 147th out of 223 countries with data for 2023.
- Is land use rising or falling in Vanuatu?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Vanuatu 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).