Nepal: Arable land (% of land area)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Nepal's arable land (% of land area) did not change 0 percentage points on 2023 (from 12.58% to 12.58%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was −0.12 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.1 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.2 standard deviations above 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 0.94 percentage points in 1970 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.23 percentage points in 2016. 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 downward, about 0.19 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 96% 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

In 2024, Nepal had the 84th highest value of the 205 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 Nepal in the 2024 ranking

• British Virgin Islands — 80th of 205: 13.25%
• Cameroon — 81st of 205: 13.12%
• Maldives — 82nd of 205: 13.09%
• Uruguay — 84th of 205: 12.39%
• Afghanistan — 85th of 205: 11.98%
• Israel — 86th of 205: 11.89%

What this measures

Arable land includes land defined by the FAO as land under temporary crops (double-cropped areas are counted once), temporary meadows for mowing or for pasture, land under market or kitchen gardens, and land temporarily fallow. Land abandoned as a result of shifting cultivation is excluded.

Limitations: The Food and Agriculture Organization (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. For example, permanent pastures are quite different in nature and intensity in African countries and dry Middle Eastern countries. The data collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations from official national sources through the questionnaire are supplemented with information from official secondary data sources.

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

All 64 values

Arable land (% of land area) in nearby economies

• Bangladesh — 60.51% (2024)
• Bhutan — 2.62% (2024)
• India — 51.73% (2024)
• Maldives — 13.09% (2024)
• Sri Lanka — 22.18% (2024)

More environment data for Nepal

• Population in largest city — 1.67 million (2025)
• Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 8.43% (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million — 1.67 million (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) — 5.65% (2025)
• Rural population — 9.77 million (2025)
• Rural population (% of total population) — 33% (2025)
• Urban population — 19.84 million (2025)
• Urban population (% of total population) — 67% (2025)
• Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 102,403 (2024)
• Capture fisheries production (metric tons)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Nepal's arable land (% of land area)?

12.58% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1961?

It is down 0.05 percentage points from 12.63% in 1961. The highest value was 16.44% in 1999 and the lowest 12.58% in 2022.

How does Nepal rank?

84th highest of 205 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in arable land (% of land area) unusual for Nepal?

In 2024, Nepal's arable land (% of land area) did not change 0 percentage points on 2023 (from 12.58% to 12.58%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was −0.12 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.1 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.2 standard deviations above 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.ARBL.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: FAO electronic files and website, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 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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