South Asia (IDA & IBRD): Agricultural land (% of land area)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, South Asia (IDA & IBRD)'s agricultural land (% of land area) rose 0.06 percentage points on 2022 (from 58.28% to 58.34%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was −0.02 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.08 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.1 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 0.45 percentage points in 1962 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.31 percentage points in 1992. 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 0.04 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 84% 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

Agricultural land refers to the share of land area that is arable, under permanent crops, and under permanent pastures. 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. Land under permanent crops is land cultivated with crops that occupy the land for long periods and need not be replanted after each harvest, such as cocoa, coffee, and rubber. This category includes land under flowering shrubs, fruit trees, nut trees, and vines, but excludes land under trees grown for wood or timber. Permanent pasture is land used for five or more years for forage, including natural and cultivated crops.

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 63 values

Agricultural land (% of land area) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 58.39% (2024)
• Algeria — 17.35% (2024)
• Bahrain — 10.29% (2024)
• Djibouti — 73.53% (2024)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 4.25% (2024)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 29.01% (2024)
• Iraq — 21.65% (2024)
• Israel — 23.79% (2024)
• Jordan — 11.57% (2024)
• Kuwait — 8.42% (2024)
• Lebanon

More environment data for South Asia (IDA & IBRD)

• Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 10.19% (2025)
• Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) — 16.79% (2025)
• Rural population — 1.09 billion (2025)
• Rural population (% of total population) — 64.21% (2025)
• Urban population — 605.7 million (2025)
• Urban population (% of total population) — 35.79% (2025)
• Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 15.23 million (2024)
• Capture fisheries production (metric tons) — 8.88 million (2024)
• Total fisheries production (metric tons)

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Questions people ask

What is South Asia (IDA & IBRD)'s agricultural land (% of land area)?

58.34% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1961?

It is up 1.7 percentage points from 56.64% in 1961. The highest value was 59.27% in 1991 and the lowest 56.64% in 1961.

Is the latest change in agricultural land (% of land area) unusual for South Asia (IDA & IBRD)?

In 2023, South Asia (IDA & IBRD)'s agricultural land (% of land area) rose 0.06 percentage points on 2022 (from 58.28% to 58.34%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was −0.02 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.08 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.1 standard deviations above 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.AGRI.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: FAO electronic files and web site, 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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