Terrestrial barren land — Area from MODIS in China

China: Terrestrial barren land — Area from MODIS was 220,023 1000 ha in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
220,023 1000 ha
Change on year
down 0.4%
World rank
1st
of 223 countries
All-time high
236,875 1000 ha
in 2001
All-time low
218,689 1000 ha
in 2020
Years of data
24
2001–2024

Terrestrial barren land — Area from MODIS in China, 2001–2024

050.0k100.0k150.0k200.0k250.0k2001201220242001: 236.9k 1000 ha2002: 230.6k 1000 ha2003: 227.6k 1000 ha2004: 227.7k 1000 ha2005: 227.3k 1000 ha2006: 226.4k 1000 ha2007: 225.4k 1000 ha2008: 224.9k 1000 ha2009: 225.1k 1000 ha2010: 224.3k 1000 ha2011: 223.4k 1000 ha2012: 221.9k 1000 ha2013: 221.6k 1000 ha2014: 222.0k 1000 ha2015: 222.5k 1000 ha2016: 221.5k 1000 ha2017: 220.2k 1000 ha2018: 219.0k 1000 ha2019: 218.7k 1000 ha2020: 218.7k 1000 ha2021: 218.9k 1000 ha2022: 221.0k 1000 ha2023: 221.0k 1000 ha2024: 220.0k 1000 ha

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.

Analysis

In 2024, terrestrial barren land — area from modis in China stood at 220,023 1000 ha.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.4% on the previous year and down 0.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, terrestrial barren land — area from modis in China peaked at 236,875 1000 ha in 2001 and was at its lowest, 218,689 1000 ha, in 2020.

That places China 1st out of 223 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.

Terrestrial barren land — Area from MODIS in China, year by year

Annual values for Terrestrial barren land — Area from MODIS in China, 2001 to 2024.
Year 1000 ha Change
2001 236,875 1000 ha —
2002 230,570 1000 ha -2.7%
2003 227,566 1000 ha -1.3%
2004 227,683 1000 ha +0.1%
2005 227,341 1000 ha -0.2%
2006 226,392 1000 ha -0.4%
2007 225,434 1000 ha -0.4%
2008 224,936 1000 ha -0.2%
2009 225,133 1000 ha +0.1%
2010 224,251 1000 ha -0.4%
2011 223,358 1000 ha -0.4%
2012 221,914 1000 ha -0.6%
2013 221,603 1000 ha -0.1%
2014 222,016 1000 ha +0.2%
2015 222,497 1000 ha +0.2%
2016 221,475 1000 ha -0.5%
2017 220,181 1000 ha -0.6%
2018 218,974 1000 ha -0.5%
2019 218,713 1000 ha -0.1%
2020 218,689 1000 ha -0.0%
2021 218,905 1000 ha +0.1%
2022 220,966 1000 ha +0.9%
2023 220,990 1000 ha +0.0%
2024 220,023 1000 ha -0.4%

China compared with similar countries

  • China's 220,023 1000 ha is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 2.38 1000 ha, 92641.3× the median. (52 countries reporting)
  • China's 220,023 1000 ha is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 2.25 1000 ha, 97788.0× the median. (27 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 227,992 1000 ha 224,936 1000 ha 236,875 1000 ha 9
2010s 221,498 1000 ha 218,713 1000 ha 224,251 1000 ha 10
2020s 219,915 1000 ha 218,689 1000 ha 220,990 1000 ha 5

Countries ranked near China

  1. 2 China, mainland 220,009 1000 ha compare
  2. 2 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 96,949 1000 ha compare
  3. 3 Algeria 211,868 1000 ha compare
  4. 4 Saudi Arabia 184,840 1000 ha compare
  5. 4 Syrian Arab Republic 9,568 1000 ha compare

See the full ranking of 269 places →

More environment data for China

All data for China →

Frequently asked questions

What is terrestrial barren land — area from modis in China?
Terrestrial barren land — area from modis in China was 220,023 1000 ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
What is the highest terrestrial barren land — area from modis recorded in China?
The highest recorded value was 236,875 1000 ha in 2001.
What is the lowest terrestrial barren land — area from modis recorded in China?
The lowest recorded value was 218,689 1000 ha in 2020.
How does China rank for terrestrial barren land — area from modis?
China ranks 1st out of 223 countries with data for 2024.
Is terrestrial barren land — area from modis rising or falling in China?
Over the last ten years it is down 0.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this China data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Terrestrial barren land — Area from MODIS. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Terrestrial barren land — Area from MODIS in China. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 27 September 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/terrestrial-barren-land-area-from-modis/china/

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About this data

Indicator
Terrestrial barren land — Area from MODIS
Unit
1000 ha
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Licence
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO)
Coverage
269 places, 6,390 data points, 2001–2024
Last refreshed

The FAOSTAT domain on Land Cover data under the Agri-Environmental Indicators section contains land cover information organized by the land cover classes of the international standard system for Environmental and Economic Accounting Central Framework (SEEA CF). The land cover information is compiled from publicly available Global Land Cover (GLC) maps: a) MODIS land cover types based on the Land Cover Classification System, LCCS; b) The European Spatial Agency (ESA) Climate Change Initiative (CCI) annual land cover maps produced by the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL)-Geomatics and now under the European Copernicus Program; c) The annual land cover maps which were produced under the European Copernicus Global Land Service (CGLS) (CGLS land cover, containing discrete land cover categorization), with spatial resolution 100m; and d) the WorldCover maps of the European Space Agency, produced at 10m resolution.