Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Canada
Canada: Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops was 0.1804 in 2023. ▼ Falling
Latest (2023)
0.1804
Change on year
up 3.3%
World rank
144th
of 163 countries
All-time high
1
in 1961
All-time low
0.1702
in 2020
Years of data
63
1961–2023
Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Canada, 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
The most recent figure for arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Canada is 0.1804, measured in 2023.
That represents a change of up 3.3% on the previous year and up 2.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Canada peaked at 1 in 1961 and was at its lowest, 0.1702, in 2020.
Canada ranks 144th of 163 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
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 Canada, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 1 | — |
| 1962 | 0.6722 | -32.8% |
| 1963 | 0.5895 | -12.3% |
| 1964 | 0.6749 | +14.5% |
| 1965 | 0.6082 | -9.9% |
| 1966 | 0.5224 | -14.1% |
| 1967 | 0.6538 | +25.1% |
| 1968 | 0.5814 | -11.1% |
| 1969 | 0.5564 | -4.3% |
| 1970 | 0.6213 | +11.7% |
| 1971 | 0.5055 | -18.6% |
| 1972 | 0.5692 | +12.6% |
| 1973 | 0.5456 | -4.2% |
| 1974 | 0.6192 | +13.5% |
| 1975 | 0.5229 | -15.6% |
| 1976 | 0.4796 | -8.3% |
| 1977 | 0.4695 | -2.1% |
| 1978 | 0.4428 | -5.7% |
| 1979 | 0.4886 | +10.3% |
| 1980 | 0.469 | -4.0% |
| 1981 | 0.4126 | -12.0% |
| 1982 | 0.3883 | -5.9% |
| 1983 | 0.4221 | +8.7% |
| 1984 | 0.4394 | +4.1% |
| 1985 | 0.4008 | -8.8% |
| 1986 | 0.3549 | -11.4% |
| 1987 | 0.3721 | +4.8% |
| 1988 | 0.4872 | +30.9% |
| 1989 | 0.4047 | -16.9% |
| 1990 | 0.3477 | -14.1% |
| 1991 | 0.353 | +1.5% |
| 1992 | 0.375 | +6.2% |
| 1993 | 0.3425 | -8.7% |
| 1994 | 0.3318 | -3.1% |
| 1995 | 0.3256 | -1.9% |
| 1996 | 0.3086 | -5.2% |
| 1997 | 0.323 | +4.6% |
| 1998 | 0.3015 | -6.6% |
| 1999 | 0.2785 | -7.6% |
| 2000 | 0.2944 | +5.7% |
| 2001 | 0.3578 | +21.5% |
| 2002 | 0.4035 | +12.8% |
| 2003 | 0.3091 | -23.4% |
| 2004 | 0.2831 | -8.4% |
| 2005 | 0.2675 | -5.5% |
| 2006 | 0.2747 | +2.7% |
| 2007 | 0.2768 | +0.8% |
| 2008 | 0.2313 | -16.5% |
| 2009 | 0.2353 | +1.8% |
| 2010 | 0.2373 | +0.8% |
| 2011 | 0.2272 | -4.2% |
| 2012 | 0.217 | -4.5% |
| 2013 | 0.1755 | -19.1% |
| 2014 | 0.2015 | +14.8% |
| 2015 | 0.1924 | -4.5% |
| 2016 | 0.1766 | -8.2% |
| 2017 | 0.1768 | +0.1% |
| 2018 | 0.179 | +1.2% |
| 2019 | 0.1785 | -0.3% |
| 2020 | 0.1702 | -4.6% |
| 2021 | 0.2259 | +32.7% |
| 2022 | 0.1745 | -22.7% |
| 2023 | 0.1804 | +3.3% |
Canada compared with similar countries
- Canada's 0.1804 is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.5062, 36% of the median. (53 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.651 | 0.5224 | 1 | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.5264 | 0.4428 | 0.6213 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.4151 | 0.3549 | 0.4872 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.3287 | 0.2785 | 0.375 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.2934 | 0.2313 | 0.4035 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.1962 | 0.1755 | 0.2373 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.1878 | 0.1702 | 0.2259 | 4 |
Countries ranked near Canada
More reference data data for Canada
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 2.05 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 3.92 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 20.47 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 2.92 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 20.47 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 6.86 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 7.45 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 22.03 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 99.83 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 15.88 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Canada?
- Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Canada was 0.1804 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 Canada?
- The highest recorded value was 1 in 1961.
- What is the lowest arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops recorded in Canada?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1702 in 2020.
- How does Canada rank for arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops?
- Canada ranks 144th out of 163 countries with data for 2023.
- Is arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops rising or falling in Canada?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Canada 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).