Vanuatu: Land area (sq. km)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Vanuatu's land area (sq. km) did not change 0% on 2023 (from 12,189 to 12,189).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was −0% and a typical year strayed about 0% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly fall was 0% in 2023. 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 0.1 a year. A straight line explains 48% 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, Vanuatu had the 157th highest value of the 214 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 Vanuatu in the 2024 ranking

• Eswatini — 154th of 214: 17,200
• Timor-Leste — 155th of 214: 14,870
• Montenegro — 156th of 214: 13,450
• Qatar — 158th of 214: 11,490
• Jamaica — 159th of 214: 10,830
• Lebanon — 160th of 214: 10,230

What this measures

Land area is a country's total area, excluding area under inland water bodies, national claims to continental shelf, and exclusive economic zones. In most cases the definition of inland water bodies includes major rivers and lakes.

Limitations: The data are collected by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations through annual questionnaires. The FAO tries to impose standard definitions and reporting methods, but complete consistency across countries and over time is not possible. The data collected from official national sources through the questionnaire 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.

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

All 64 values

Land area (sq. km) in nearby economies

• American Samoa — 199 (2024)
• Australia — 7.69 million (2024)
• Brunei Darussalam — 5,270 (2024)
• Cambodia — 176,520 (2024)
• China — 9.39 million (2024)
• Fiji — 18,333 (2024)
• French Polynesia — 3,521 (2024)
• Guam — 541 (2024)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 1,050 (2024)
• Indonesia — 1.89 million (2024)
• Japan — 364,500 (2024)
• Kiribati — 811 (2024)

More environment data for Vanuatu

• Rural population — 260,353 (2025)
• Rural population (% of total population) — 77.68% (2025)
• Urban population — 74,816 (2025)
• Urban population (% of total population) — 22.32% (2025)
• Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 6 (2024)
• Capture fisheries production (metric tons) — 44,422 (2024)
• Total fisheries production (metric tons) — 44,428 (2024)
• Rural population growth (annual %) — 2.18% (2025)
• Urban population growth (annual %) — 2.39% (2025)
• Agricultural land (sq. km) — 1,617 (2024)

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 Vanuatu's land area (sq. km)?

12,189 in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1961?

It is down 0.0082% from 12,190 in 1961. The highest value was 12,190 in 1961 and the lowest 12,189 in 2023.

How does Vanuatu rank?

157th highest of 214 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in land area (sq. km) unusual for Vanuatu?

In 2024, Vanuatu's land area (sq. km) did not change 0% on 2023 (from 12,189 to 12,189). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was −0% and a typical year strayed about 0% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Where does this data come from?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator AG.LND.TOTL.K2, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: FAOSTAT, 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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