Data
Agricultural land, cropland, pasture and forest area
How much land each country, the European Union and the world use as cropland and as permanent meadows and pastures (together, agricultural land), and how much is forest, each year since 1961 (forest since 1990), in thousands of hectares, as reported to and estimated by FAO.
Latest value
4,689,512thousand ha
Countries and territories, the European Union (27) and the world, 2024. Version 2026-10-02.
Agricultural land, cropland, pasture and forest area (thousand hectares)
Agricultural land, cropland, pasture and forest area (thousand hectares)
Show as a table
| Period | Land use | Value (thousand ha) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,518,546 | final |
| 1962 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,524,843 | final |
| 1963 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,530,288 | final |
| 1964 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,535,408 | final |
| 1965 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,544,855 | final |
| 1966 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,548,668 | final |
| 1967 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,556,417 | final |
| 1968 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,586,808 | final |
| 1969 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,588,860 | final |
| 1970 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,578,409 | final |
| 1971 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,588,551 | final |
| 1972 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,598,774 | final |
| 1973 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,604,484 | final |
| 1974 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,611,963 | final |
| 1975 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,614,022 | final |
| 1976 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,610,395 | final |
| 1977 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,611,123 | final |
| 1978 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,622,705 | final |
| 1979 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,625,937 | final |
| 1980 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,634,958 | final |
| 1981 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,635,865 | final |
| 1982 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,646,753 | final |
| 1983 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,650,045 | final |
| 1984 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,671,719 | final |
| 1985 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,695,849 | final |
| 1986 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,690,396 | final |
| 1987 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,700,737 | final |
| 1988 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,712,739 | final |
| 1989 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,719,036 | final |
| 1990 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,723,749 | final |
| 1991 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,722,154 | final |
| 1992 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,755,576 | final |
| 1993 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,734,169 | final |
| 1994 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,749,423 | final |
| 1995 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,748,759 | final |
| 1996 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,756,627 | final |
| 1997 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,774,711 | final |
| 1998 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,787,601 | final |
| 1999 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,788,761 | final |
| 2000 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,792,272 | final |
| 2001 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,792,230 | final |
| 2002 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,782,737 | final |
| 2003 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,763,489 | final |
| 2004 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,721,807 | final |
| 2005 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,728,649 | final |
| 2006 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,725,839 | final |
| 2007 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,715,063 | final |
| 2008 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,701,187 | final |
| 2009 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,695,158 | final |
| 2010 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,699,307 | final |
| 2011 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,717,479 | final |
| 2012 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,713,393 | final |
| 2013 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,701,105 | final |
| 2014 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,701,931 | final |
| 2015 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,680,211 | final |
| 2016 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,674,372 | final |
| 2017 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,704,091 | final |
| 2018 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,690,733 | final |
| 2019 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,689,819 | final |
| 2020 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,685,298 | final |
| 2021 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,696,338 | final |
| 2022 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,691,196 | final |
| 2023 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,686,696 | final |
| 2024 | Agricultural land (cropland and permanent meadows and pastures) | 4,689,512 | final |
| 1961 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,339,524 | final |
| 1962 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,342,517 | final |
| 1963 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,348,579 | final |
| 1964 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,350,227 | final |
| 1965 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,353,971 | final |
| 1966 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,353,782 | final |
| 1967 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,355,730 | final |
| 1968 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,368,074 | final |
| 1969 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,376,630 | final |
| 1970 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,375,548 | final |
| 1971 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,373,232 | final |
| 1972 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,379,448 | final |
| 1973 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,382,123 | final |
| 1974 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,385,065 | final |
| 1975 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,386,185 | final |
| 1976 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,393,328 | final |
| 1977 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,399,875 | final |
| 1978 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,411,543 | final |
| 1979 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,418,317 | final |
| 1980 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,422,518 | final |
| 1981 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,427,131 | final |
| 1982 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,437,827 | final |
| 1983 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,444,168 | final |
| 1984 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,460,936 | final |
| 1985 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,475,361 | final |
| 1986 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,478,901 | final |
| 1987 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,482,221 | final |
| 1988 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,482,018 | final |
| 1989 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,482,452 | final |
| 1990 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,485,087 | final |
| 1991 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,487,945 | final |
| 1992 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,485,089 | final |
| 1993 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,486,255 | final |
| 1994 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,484,969 | final |
| 1995 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,486,347 | final |
| 1996 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,486,796 | final |
| 1997 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,491,419 | final |
| 1998 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,491,916 | final |
| 1999 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,495,798 | final |
| 2000 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,494,267 | final |
| 2001 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,495,633 | final |
| 2002 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,493,886 | final |
| 2003 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,499,269 | final |
| 2004 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,505,454 | final |
| 2005 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,511,130 | final |
| 2006 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,510,672 | final |
| 2007 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,512,399 | final |
| 2008 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,513,760 | final |
| 2009 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,519,930 | final |
| 2010 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,526,563 | final |
| 2011 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,535,139 | final |
| 2012 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,541,316 | final |
| 2013 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,545,790 | final |
| 2014 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,551,911 | final |
| 2015 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,559,724 | final |
| 2016 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,562,549 | final |
| 2017 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,568,214 | final |
| 2018 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,572,511 | final |
| 2019 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,571,259 | final |
| 2020 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,577,191 | final |
| 2021 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,582,150 | final |
| 2022 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,581,223 | final |
| 2023 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,584,742 | final |
| 2024 | Cropland (arable land and permanent crops) | 1,587,711 | final |
| 1961 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,178,767 | final |
| 1962 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,182,071 | final |
| 1963 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,181,454 | final |
| 1964 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,184,926 | final |
| 1965 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,191,078 | final |
| 1966 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,192,352 | final |
| 1967 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,195,430 | final |
| 1968 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,217,754 | final |
| 1969 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,218,094 | final |
| 1970 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,202,595 | final |
| 1971 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,215,054 | final |
| 1972 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,219,061 | final |
| 1973 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,222,094 | final |
| 1974 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,226,630 | final |
| 1975 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,227,567 | final |
| 1976 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,217,001 | final |
| 1977 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,211,247 | final |
| 1978 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,211,161 | final |
| 1979 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,207,619 | final |
| 1980 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,212,440 | final |
| 1981 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,208,733 | final |
| 1982 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,208,925 | final |
| 1983 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,205,877 | final |
| 1984 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,210,783 | final |
| 1985 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,220,487 | final |
| 1986 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,211,495 | final |
| 1987 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,218,516 | final |
| 1988 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,230,720 | final |
| 1989 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,236,576 | final |
| 1990 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,238,644 | final |
| 1991 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,234,179 | final |
| 1992 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,270,649 | final |
| 1993 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,247,978 | final |
| 1994 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,264,501 | final |
| 1995 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,262,441 | final |
| 1996 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,269,742 | final |
| 1997 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,283,183 | final |
| 1998 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,295,561 | final |
| 1999 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,292,821 | final |
| 2000 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,297,897 | final |
| 2001 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,296,418 | final |
| 2002 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,288,596 | final |
| 2003 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,264,109 | final |
| 2004 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,216,169 | final |
| 2005 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,217,336 | final |
| 2006 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,214,875 | final |
| 2007 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,202,355 | final |
| 2008 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,187,208 | final |
| 2009 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,175,055 | final |
| 2010 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,172,424 | final |
| 2011 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,182,079 | final |
| 2012 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,171,901 | final |
| 2013 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,155,197 | final |
| 2014 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,150,036 | final |
| 2015 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,120,602 | final |
| 2016 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,112,020 | final |
| 2017 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,136,157 | final |
| 2018 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,118,119 | final |
| 2019 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,118,162 | final |
| 2020 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,108,109 | final |
| 2021 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,113,046 | final |
| 2022 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,107,714 | final |
| 2023 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,104,100 | final |
| 2024 | Permanent meadows and pastures | 3,103,183 | final |
| 1990 | Forest land | 4,343,533 | final |
| 1991 | Forest land | 4,332,839 | final |
| 1992 | Forest land | 4,322,144 | final |
| 1993 | Forest land | 4,311,449 | final |
| 1994 | Forest land | 4,300,754 | final |
| 1995 | Forest land | 4,290,060 | final |
| 1996 | Forest land | 4,279,365 | final |
| 1997 | Forest land | 4,268,670 | final |
| 1998 | Forest land | 4,257,976 | final |
| 1999 | Forest land | 4,247,281 | final |
| 2000 | Forest land | 4,236,586 | final |
| 2001 | Forest land | 4,233,027 | final |
| 2002 | Forest land | 4,229,469 | final |
| 2003 | Forest land | 4,225,910 | final |
| 2004 | Forest land | 4,222,352 | final |
| 2005 | Forest land | 4,218,793 | final |
| 2006 | Forest land | 4,215,234 | final |
| 2007 | Forest land | 4,211,676 | final |
| 2008 | Forest land | 4,208,117 | final |
| 2009 | Forest land | 4,204,559 | final |
| 2010 | Forest land | 4,201,000 | final |
| 2011 | Forest land | 4,197,087 | final |
| 2012 | Forest land | 4,193,173 | final |
| 2013 | Forest land | 4,189,260 | final |
| 2014 | Forest land | 4,185,347 | final |
| 2015 | Forest land | 4,181,434 | final |
| 2016 | Forest land | 4,178,195 | final |
| 2017 | Forest land | 4,174,956 | final |
| 2018 | Forest land | 4,171,717 | final |
| 2019 | Forest land | 4,168,479 | final |
| 2020 | Forest land | 4,165,240 | final |
| 2021 | Forest land | 4,160,235 | final |
| 2022 | Forest land | 4,155,230 | final |
| 2023 | Forest land | 4,150,225 | final |
| 2024 | Forest land | 4,145,220 | final |
| 2025 | Forest land | 4,140,215 | final |
FAO. 2026. FAOSTAT. Accessed on 5 October 2026. https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data Licence: CC-BY-4.0. CC BY 4.0 (FAO Statistical Database Terms of Use).
Notes on individual values
- FAO flag I: Value imputed by a receiving agency.
- FAO flag A: Official value.
- FAO flag X: Value from external organization.
- FAO flag E: Estimated value.
Where it comes from
- Producer
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Statistics Division · FAOSTAT agrifood emissions, livestock emissions, emissions intensities, land use and food loss
- Version
- 2026-10-02
- Fetched
- 2026-10-04 (automatically), 2,970,716 bytes
- Fingerprint
- sha256 39b739fbfb694971207a2efa572c41e8de2386fc5cb33caaf2a188e9c9a6ca3fETag "0c5cd521652ac5535fff638d867f975c" · Last-Modified Fri, 02 Oct 2026 08:15:20 GMT
- Copies
- No Wayback copy recorded yet.Our copy of the exact file
- Cite the producer
- FAO. 2026. FAOSTAT. Accessed on 5 October 2026. https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data Licence: CC-BY-4.0.
- Producer
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Statistics Division · FAOSTAT agrifood emissions, livestock emissions, emissions intensities, land use and food loss
- Version
- 2026-10-02
- Fetched
- 2026-10-05 (automatically), 109,120 bytes
- Fingerprint
- sha256 008f475c971a7770c69b1bc48f1c3a5fa8bf3873e762d6e1e9516bb0a700ebdaETag W/"157c9ec8e5eea09a02497cc10f67bcdb" · Last-Modified Mon, 05 Oct 2026 12:49:35 GMT
- Copies
- No Wayback copy recorded yet.Our copy of the exact file
- Cite the producer
- FAO. 2026. FAOSTAT. Accessed on 5 October 2026. https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data Licence: CC-BY-4.0.
What was done to it
Read Inputs_LandUse_E_All_Data_(Normalized).csv from FAOSTAT's RL bulk zip. The vintage is the domain's DateUpdate, 2 October 2026, from FAOSTAT's bulk-download catalogue (datasets_E.json), whose entry names this zip and gives FileRows 421,850, the number of data rows in this file. The zip was last modified on the server on Fri, 02 Oct 2026 08:15:20 GMT.
Code: pipeline/src/envdash/transforms/food/faostat_land_use.py · code sha256 534fd841c2025e33… · inputs 39b739fbfb69… 008f475c971a…
Kept the rows of element "Area" (code 5110, unit "1000 ha") for items "Agricultural land" (6610), "Cropland" (6620), "Permanent meadows and pastures" (6655), "Forest land" (6646), 1961–2025, for every area FAO reports; values are published as printed.
Code: pipeline/src/envdash/transforms/food/faostat_land_use.py · code sha256 534fd841c2025e33… · inputs 39b739fbfb69… 008f475c971a…
Left out former states and territories reported only before their dissolution, with no entity here (Belgium-Luxembourg, Czechoslovakia, Ethiopia PDR, Netherlands Antilles (former), Pacific Islands Trust Territory, Sudan (former), USSR, Yugoslav SFR); FAO regional and analytical groups (Africa, Americas, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Caribbean, Central America, Central Asia, China, Eastern Africa, Eastern Asia, Eastern Europe, Europe, Land Locked Developing Countries (LLDCs), Latin America and the Caribbean, Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Low Income Food Deficit Countries (LIFDCs), Melanesia, Micronesia, Middle Africa, Net Food Importing Developing Countries (NFIDCs), Northern Africa, Northern America, Northern Europe, OECD, Oceania, Polynesia, Small Island Developing States (SIDS), South America, South-eastern Asia, Southern Africa, Southern Asia, Southern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, Western Africa, Western Asia, Western Europe). Their values are never re-assigned to other entities.
Code: pipeline/src/envdash/transforms/food/faostat_land_use.py · code sha256 534fd841c2025e33… · inputs 39b739fbfb69… 008f475c971a…
The values used carry several FAO flags (A "Official value" (11,493 values); E "Estimated value" (284 values); I "Value imputed by a receiving agency" (34,023 values); X "Value from external organization" (1,416 values)); each observation names its flag in a note.
Code: pipeline/src/envdash/transforms/food/faostat_land_use.py · code sha256 534fd841c2025e33… · inputs 39b739fbfb69… 008f475c971a…
9 values are empty in the file and are published as null, with FAO's flag as the reason.
Code: pipeline/src/envdash/transforms/food/faostat_land_use.py · code sha256 534fd841c2025e33… · inputs 39b739fbfb69… 008f475c971a…
What it covers
- Geography
- Countries and territories, the European Union (27) and the world
- Basis
- FAOSTAT Land Use (RL) categories: agricultural land = cropland (arable land and permanent crops) + permanent meadows and pastures; forest land as defined by FAO's Global Forest Resources Assessment (land over 0.5 ha with trees over 5 m and canopy cover over 10 percent, not mainly under agricultural or urban use), taken by FAO from FRA 2025 and available from 1990. Country reports, with FAO estimates and imputations where countries did not report (each value's flag is given).
- Unit
- thousand hectares (thousand ha)