Nicaragua: Land under cereal production (hectares)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, Nicaragua's land under cereal production (hectares) fell 12.9% on 2022 (from 402,346 to 350,425).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was +1.8% and a typical year strayed about 13% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.1 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 32.7% in 2000 and the biggest yearly fall was 20.9% in 1972. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2014 to 2023 the straight-line trend is downward, about 7,367 a year. A straight line explains 38% 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.

Closest to Nicaragua in the 2023 ranking

• West Bank and Gaza — 2nd of 3: 20,698
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 3rd of 3: 0

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 63 values

Land under cereal production (hectares) in nearby economies

• Antigua and Barbuda — 26 (2024)
• Argentina — 17.66 million (2024)
• Bahamas, The — 78 (2024)
• Barbados — 0 (2024)
• Belize — 39,413 (2024)
• Bolivia — 1.69 million (2024)
• Brazil — 27.78 million (2024)
• Chile — 386,898 (2024)
• Colombia — 981,981 (2024)
• Costa Rica — 18,980 (2024)
• Cuba

More environment data for Nicaragua

• Population in largest city — 1.12 million (2025)
• Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 26.91% (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million — 1.12 million (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) — 16% (2025)
• Rural population — 2.84 million (2025)
• Rural population (% of total population) — 40.56% (2025)
• Urban population — 4.17 million (2025)
• Urban population (% of total population) — 59.44% (2025)
• Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 18,005 (2024)

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Questions people ask

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

350,425 in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1961?

It is up 43.91% from 243,500 in 1961 (0.59% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 547,317 in 2013 and the lowest 223,100 in 1963.

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

In 2023, Nicaragua's land under cereal production (hectares) fell 12.9% on 2022 (from 402,346 to 350,425). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was +1.8% and a typical year strayed about 13% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Where does this data come from?

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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