Mexico: Agricultural irrigated land (% of total agricultural land)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Mexico's agricultural irrigated land (% of total agricultural land) fell 0.74 percentage points on 2023 (from 6.58% to 5.84%).

Across the 15 yearly changes before that (2004 to 2023), the average change was +0.29 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.83 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 3.1 percentage points in 2005 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.74 percentage points in 2024. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

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

How it compares

In 2024, Mexico had the 34th highest value of the 55 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Mexico in the 2024 ranking

• Oman — 31st of 55: 7.24%
• Syrian Arab Republic — 32nd of 55: 7.21%
• Afghanistan — 33rd of 55: 5.94%
• Malaysia — 35th of 55: 5.43%
• United States — 36th of 55: 5.1%
• Romania — 37th of 55: 4.06%

What this measures

Agricultural irrigated land refers to agricultural areas purposely provided with water, including land irrigated by controlled flooding.

Limitations: The data are collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) from official national sources through annual questionnaires and 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 weighted average.

All 18 values

Agricultural irrigated land (% of total agricultural land) in nearby economies

• Dominican Republic — 12.01% (2024)
• Ecuador — 21.95% (2024)
• El Salvador — 2.37% (2024)
• Panama — 2.3% (2024)
• Suriname — 74.36% (2021)
• Uruguay — 1.47% (2018)

More environment data for Mexico

• Population in largest city — 22.75 million (2025)
• Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 21.54% (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million — 56.29 million (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) — 42.66% (2025)
• Rural population — 26.34 million (2025)
• Rural population (% of total population) — 19.96% (2025)
• Urban population — 105.61 million (2025)
• Urban population (% of total population) — 80.04% (2025)
• Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 273,739 (2024)
• Capture fisheries production (metric tons)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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Questions people ask

What is Mexico's agricultural irrigated land (% of total agricultural land)?

5.84% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2003?

It is up 3.93 percentage points from 1.91% in 2003. The highest value was 6.58% in 2023 and the lowest 1.91% in 2003.

How does Mexico rank?

34th highest of 55 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in agricultural irrigated land (% of total agricultural land) unusual for Mexico?

In 2024, Mexico's agricultural irrigated land (% of total agricultural land) fell 0.74 percentage points on 2023 (from 6.58% to 5.84%). Across the 15 yearly changes before that (2004 to 2023), the average change was +0.29 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.83 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator AG.LND.IRIG.AG.ZS, 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/RL, 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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