North Macedonia: Land under cereal production (hectares)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, North Macedonia's land under cereal production (hectares) fell 2.7% on 2023 (from 153,454 to 149,249).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was −1.4% and a typical year strayed about 3.8% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 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 6.1% in 2005 and the biggest yearly fall was 9.6% in 2010. 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 1,189 a year. A straight line explains 65% 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, North Macedonia had the 125th highest value of the 177 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 North Macedonia in the 2024 ranking

• Guyana — 122nd of 177: 170,633
• Cuba — 123rd of 177: 158,289
• Netherlands — 124th of 177: 153,500
• Georgia — 126th of 177: 148,643
• Switzerland — 127th of 177: 137,029
• Albania — 128th of 177: 126,129

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 33 values

Land under cereal production (hectares) in nearby economies

• Albania — 126,129 (2024)
• Armenia — 109,701 (2024)
• Austria — 726,060 (2024)
• Azerbaijan — 964,494 (2024)
• Belarus — 2.28 million (2024)
• Belgium — 281,940 (2024)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 224,321 (2024)
• Bulgaria — 1.97 million (2024)
• Croatia — 500,040 (2024)
• Cyprus — 20,070 (2024)
• Czechia

More environment data for North Macedonia

• Population in largest city — 620,825 (2025)
• Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 54.21% (2025)
• Rural population — 675,721 (2025)
• Rural population (% of total population) — 37.11% (2025)
• Urban population — 1.15 million (2025)
• Urban population (% of total population) — 62.89% (2025)
• Rural population growth (annual %) — -1.07% (2025)
• Urban population growth (annual %) — 0.33% (2025)
• Agricultural land (sq. km) — 12,410 (2024)
• Surface area (sq. km)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

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

149,249 in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1992?

It is down 36.55% from 235,207 in 1992 (1.41% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 241,092 in 1995 and the lowest 149,249 in 2024.

How does North Macedonia rank?

125th highest of 177 economies with data for 2024.

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

In 2024, North Macedonia's land under cereal production (hectares) fell 2.7% on 2023 (from 153,454 to 149,249). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was −1.4% and a typical year strayed about 3.8% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 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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