IBRD only: Land under cereal production (hectares)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, IBRD only's land under cereal production (hectares) fell 0.1% on 2023 (from 441.38 million to 441.07 million).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +0.1% and a typical year strayed about 1.7% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 28.5% in 1992 and the biggest yearly fall was 3.9% in 1998. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is upward, about 956,506 a year. A straight line explains 40% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

What this measures

Land under cereal production refers to harvested area, although some countries report only sown or cultivated area. Cereals include wheat, rice, maize, barley, oats, rye, millet, sorghum, buckwheat, and mixed grains. Production data on cereals relate to crops harvested for dry grain only. Cereal crops harvested for hay or harvested green for food, feed, or silage and those used for grazing are excluded.

Limitations: The data are collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) through annual questionnaires. They are supplemented with information from official secondary data sources. The secondary sources cover official country data from websites of national ministries, national publications and related country data reported by various international organizations. The FAO tries to impose standard definitions and reporting methods, but complete consistency across countries and over time is not possible. Thus, data on agricultural land in different climates may not be comparable.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.

All 64 values

Land under cereal production (hectares) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 2.64 million (2024)
• Algeria — 2.68 million (2024)
• Djibouti — 9 (2024)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 3.26 million (2024)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 9 million (2024)
• Iraq — 2.43 million (2024)
• Israel — 66,837 (2024)
• Jordan — 52,137 (2024)
• Kuwait — 2,484 (2024)
• Lebanon — 45,032 (2024)
• Libya

More environment data for IBRD only

• Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 12.53% (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) — 25.59% (2025)
• Rural population — 2.07 billion (2025)
• Rural population (% of total population) — 41.35% (2025)
• Urban population — 2.94 billion (2025)
• Urban population (% of total population) — 58.65% (2025)
• Fossil fuel energy consumption (% of total) — 83.73% (2024)
• Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 127.05 million (2024)
• Capture fisheries production (metric tons) — 60.04 million (2024)

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Questions people ask

What is IBRD only's land under cereal production (hectares)?

441.07 million in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1961?

It is up 46.64% from 300.79 million in 1961 (0.61% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 441.38 million in 2023 and the lowest 300.79 million in 1961.

Is the latest change in land under cereal production (hectares) unusual for IBRD only?

In 2024, IBRD only's land under cereal production (hectares) fell 0.1% on 2023 (from 441.38 million to 441.07 million). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was +0.1% and a typical year strayed about 1.7% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator AG.LND.CREL.HA, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: FAO electronic files and web site, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), uri: https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL, note: Item code F1717, publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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