Land use in Zambia
Zambia: Land use was 3.84 million hectares in 2023. ▲ Rising
Land use in Zambia, 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 Zambia stood at 3.84 million hectares. That is the highest value across all 63 years on record.
That represents a change of up 2.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, land use in Zambia peaked at 3.84 million hectares in 2017 and was at its lowest, 2.32 million hectares, in 1979.
Zambia ranks 67th 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 | 2.64 million hectares | 2.56 million hectares | 2.74 million hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 2.83 million hectares | 2.32 million hectares | 2.95 million hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 2.61 million hectares | 2.35 million hectares | 2.91 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 2.85 million hectares | 2.78 million hectares | 2.91 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.95 million hectares | 2.62 million hectares | 3.59 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.74 million hectares | 3.44 million hectares | 3.84 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.84 million hectares | 3.84 million hectares | 3.84 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Zambia
More environment data for Zambia
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF 38.52 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF per capita 1.81 t CO2e/capita (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture 6.39 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Building (Energy) 2.21 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Fugitive Emissions (Energy) 8.56 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Industrial Combustion (Energy) 0.0539 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions (total) excluding LULUCF 18.28 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Power Industry (Energy) 0.0026 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Transport (Energy) 0.0155 Mt CO2e (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Waste 1.04 Mt CO2e (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is land use in Zambia?
- Land use in Zambia was 3.84 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 Zambia?
- The highest recorded value was 3.84 million hectares in 2017.
- What is the lowest land use recorded in Zambia?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.32 million hectares in 1979.
- How does Zambia rank for land use?
- Zambia ranks 67th out of 223 countries with data for 2023.
- Is land use rising or falling in Zambia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Zambia 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).