Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Australia
Australia: Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops was 0.3331 in 2023. ▼ Falling
Latest (2023)
0.3331
Change on year
up 20.8%
World rank
95th
of 163 countries
All-time high
1.08
in 1967
All-time low
0.2758
in 2022
Years of data
63
1961–2023
Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Australia, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025); Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2023, arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Australia stood at 0.3331.
The figure is up 20.8% on the previous year and down 20.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Australia peaked at 1.08 in 1967 and was at its lowest, 0.2758, in 2022.
Australia ranks 95th of 163 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Australia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 1 | — |
| 1962 | 0.9077 | -9.2% |
| 1963 | 0.8877 | -2.2% |
| 1964 | 0.8341 | -6.0% |
| 1965 | 1.04 | +25.2% |
| 1966 | 0.8174 | -21.7% |
| 1967 | 1.08 | +31.7% |
| 1968 | 0.8321 | -22.7% |
| 1969 | 0.9156 | +10.0% |
| 1970 | 0.8813 | -3.7% |
| 1971 | 0.7433 | -15.7% |
| 1972 | 0.8346 | +12.3% |
| 1973 | 0.5994 | -28.2% |
| 1974 | 0.6107 | +1.9% |
| 1975 | 0.5177 | -15.2% |
| 1976 | 0.5611 | +8.4% |
| 1977 | 0.6322 | +12.7% |
| 1978 | 0.5089 | -19.5% |
| 1979 | 0.5474 | +7.6% |
| 1980 | 0.6637 | +21.2% |
| 1981 | 0.5478 | -17.5% |
| 1982 | 0.7479 | +36.5% |
| 1983 | 0.49 | -34.5% |
| 1984 | 0.5616 | +14.6% |
| 1985 | 0.5564 | -0.9% |
| 1986 | 0.5511 | -1.0% |
| 1987 | 0.5883 | +6.8% |
| 1988 | 0.4963 | -15.6% |
| 1989 | 0.4738 | -4.5% |
| 1990 | 0.4529 | -4.4% |
| 1991 | 0.4893 | +8.0% |
| 1992 | 0.3881 | -20.7% |
| 1993 | 0.3947 | +1.7% |
| 1994 | 0.5285 | +33.9% |
| 1995 | 0.3707 | -29.9% |
| 1996 | 0.3544 | -4.4% |
| 1997 | 0.3913 | +10.4% |
| 1998 | 0.3716 | -5.0% |
| 1999 | 0.3639 | -2.1% |
| 2000 | 0.3905 | +7.3% |
| 2001 | 0.375 | -4.0% |
| 2002 | 0.5287 | +41.0% |
| 2003 | 0.3737 | -29.3% |
| 2004 | 0.4479 | +19.9% |
| 2005 | 0.4006 | -10.6% |
| 2006 | 0.53 | +32.3% |
| 2007 | 0.4952 | -6.6% |
| 2008 | 0.4282 | -13.5% |
| 2009 | 0.4634 | +8.2% |
| 2010 | 0.3961 | -14.5% |
| 2011 | 0.435 | +9.8% |
| 2012 | 0.4456 | +2.4% |
| 2013 | 0.4209 | -5.5% |
| 2014 | 0.4695 | +11.5% |
| 2015 | 0.4728 | +0.7% |
| 2016 | 0.3481 | -26.4% |
| 2017 | 0.4237 | +21.7% |
| 2018 | 0.4862 | +14.7% |
| 2019 | 0.5402 | +11.1% |
| 2020 | 0.3867 | -28.4% |
| 2021 | 0.3138 | -18.8% |
| 2022 | 0.2758 | -12.1% |
| 2023 | 0.3331 | +20.8% |
Australia compared with similar countries
- Australia's 0.3331 is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.5062, 66% of the median. (53 countries reporting)
- Australia's 0.3331 is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.4156, 80% of the median. (28 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.9239 | 0.8174 | 1.08 | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.6437 | 0.5089 | 0.8813 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.5677 | 0.4738 | 0.7479 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.4105 | 0.3544 | 0.5285 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.4433 | 0.3737 | 0.53 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.4438 | 0.3481 | 0.5402 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.3274 | 0.2758 | 0.3867 | 4 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More reference data data for Australia
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.21 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 28.02 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 38.41 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 2.55 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 38.41 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 4.07 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 6.14 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 118.71 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 170.29 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 13.9 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Australia?
- Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Australia was 0.3331 in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025); Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 1.08 in 1967.
- What is the lowest arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2758 in 2022.
- How does Australia rank for arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops?
- Australia ranks 95th out of 163 countries with data for 2023.
- Is arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 20.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025); Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 63 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Index of arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops (where values in 1961 are equal to 1.0).