Terrestrial barren land — Area from MODIS in South Africa

South Africa: Terrestrial barren land — Area from MODIS was 1,954 1000 ha in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
1,954 1000 ha
Change on year
down 3.5%
World rank
45th
of 218 countries
All-time high
2,749 1000 ha
in 2021
All-time low
1,232 1000 ha
in 2002
Years of data
24
2001–2024

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

01.0k2.0k3.0k2001201220242001: 1.3k 1000 ha2002: 1.2k 1000 ha2003: 1.5k 1000 ha2004: 1.8k 1000 ha2005: 1.7k 1000 ha2006: 1.3k 1000 ha2007: 1.4k 1000 ha2008: 1.4k 1000 ha2009: 1.4k 1000 ha2010: 1.5k 1000 ha2011: 1.3k 1000 ha2012: 1.3k 1000 ha2013: 1.3k 1000 ha2014: 1.3k 1000 ha2015: 1.4k 1000 ha2016: 1.6k 1000 ha2017: 1.9k 1000 ha2018: 1.8k 1000 ha2019: 2.1k 1000 ha2020: 2.5k 1000 ha2021: 2.7k 1000 ha2022: 2.3k 1000 ha2023: 2.0k 1000 ha2024: 2.0k 1000 ha

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for terrestrial barren land — area from modis in South Africa is 1,954 1000 ha, measured in 2024.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 3.5% on the previous year and up 49.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, terrestrial barren land — area from modis in South Africa peaked at 2,749 1000 ha in 2021 and was at its lowest, 1,232 1000 ha, in 2002.

South Africa ranks 45th of 218 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 1,437 1000 ha 1,232 1000 ha 1,765 1000 ha 9
2010s 1,547 1000 ha 1,282 1000 ha 2,072 1000 ha 10
2020s 2,298 1000 ha 1,954 1000 ha 2,749 1000 ha 5

Countries ranked near South Africa

  1. 42 Norway 2,860 1000 ha compare
  2. 43 Iceland 2,819 1000 ha compare
  3. 44 Kyrgyzstan 2,393 1000 ha compare
  4. 46 Angola 1,896 1000 ha compare
  5. 47 Kuwait 1,636 1000 ha compare
  6. 48 Kenya 1,427 1000 ha compare

See the full ranking of 269 places →

More environment data for South Africa

All data for South Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is terrestrial barren land — area from modis in South Africa?
Terrestrial barren land — area from modis in South Africa was 1,954 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 South Africa?
The highest recorded value was 2,749 1000 ha in 2021.
What is the lowest terrestrial barren land — area from modis recorded in South Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 1,232 1000 ha in 2002.
How does South Africa rank for terrestrial barren land — area from modis?
South Africa ranks 45th out of 218 countries with data for 2024.
Is terrestrial barren land — area from modis rising or falling in South Africa?
Over the last ten years it is up 49.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this South Africa 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 South Africa. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 17 August 2026, from https://environment.statizoid.com/stat/terrestrial-barren-land-area-from-modis/south-africa/

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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.