Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in China
China: Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops was 0.1335 in 2023. ◆ Volatile
Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in China, 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 China stood at 0.1335. That is the lowest value across all 63 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.5% 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 China peaked at 1 in 1961 and was at its lowest, 0.1335, in 2023.
That places China 158th out of 163 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in China, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 1 | — |
| 1962 | 0.9491 | -5.1% |
| 1963 | 0.9202 | -3.0% |
| 1964 | 0.8742 | -5.0% |
| 1965 | 0.7999 | -8.5% |
| 1966 | 0.7378 | -7.8% |
| 1967 | 0.7282 | -1.3% |
| 1968 | 0.7293 | +0.1% |
| 1969 | 0.716 | -1.8% |
| 1970 | 0.6652 | -7.1% |
| 1971 | 0.6458 | -2.9% |
| 1972 | 0.6647 | +2.9% |
| 1973 | 0.5827 | -12.3% |
| 1974 | 0.5884 | +1.0% |
| 1975 | 0.5679 | -3.5% |
| 1976 | 0.576 | +1.4% |
| 1977 | 0.561 | -2.6% |
| 1978 | 0.5079 | -9.5% |
| 1979 | 0.4991 | -1.7% |
| 1980 | 0.5037 | +0.9% |
| 1981 | 0.4851 | -3.7% |
| 1982 | 0.4651 | -4.1% |
| 1983 | 0.4553 | -2.1% |
| 1984 | 0.449 | -1.4% |
| 1985 | 0.49 | +9.1% |
| 1986 | 0.4819 | -1.7% |
| 1987 | 0.4566 | -5.2% |
| 1988 | 0.4594 | +0.6% |
| 1989 | 0.4542 | -1.1% |
| 1990 | 0.4288 | -5.6% |
| 1991 | 0.42 | -2.0% |
| 1992 | 0.3999 | -4.8% |
| 1993 | 0.3703 | -7.4% |
| 1994 | 0.3618 | -2.3% |
| 1995 | 0.3353 | -7.3% |
| 1996 | 0.3103 | -7.5% |
| 1997 | 0.3019 | -2.7% |
| 1998 | 0.2928 | -3.0% |
| 1999 | 0.2829 | -3.4% |
| 2000 | 0.2668 | -5.7% |
| 2001 | 0.2627 | -1.5% |
| 2002 | 0.2525 | -3.9% |
| 2003 | 0.2534 | +0.3% |
| 2004 | 0.2374 | -6.3% |
| 2005 | 0.2309 | -2.7% |
| 2006 | 0.2258 | -2.2% |
| 2007 | 0.2169 | -3.9% |
| 2008 | 0.2049 | -5.6% |
| 2009 | 0.2012 | -1.8% |
| 2010 | 0.1932 | -4.0% |
| 2011 | 0.1812 | -6.2% |
| 2012 | 0.1742 | -3.8% |
| 2013 | 0.1689 | -3.1% |
| 2014 | 0.1649 | -2.3% |
| 2015 | 0.1572 | -4.7% |
| 2016 | 0.1558 | -0.9% |
| 2017 | 0.1503 | -3.5% |
| 2018 | 0.147 | -2.2% |
| 2019 | 0.141 | -4.1% |
| 2020 | 0.1403 | -0.5% |
| 2021 | 0.138 | -1.6% |
| 2022 | 0.1355 | -1.8% |
| 2023 | 0.1335 | -1.5% |
China compared with similar countries
- China's 0.1335 is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.3111, 43% of the median. (43 countries reporting)
- China's 0.1335 is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.4156, 32% of the median. (28 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.8283 | 0.716 | 1 | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.5859 | 0.4991 | 0.6652 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.47 | 0.449 | 0.5037 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.3504 | 0.2829 | 0.4288 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.2352 | 0.2012 | 0.2668 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.1634 | 0.141 | 0.1932 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.1368 | 0.1335 | 0.1403 | 4 |
Countries ranked near China
More reference data data for China
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 49.4 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 75.5 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 303.29 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 18.8 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 303.29 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 165.62 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 206.2 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 350.74 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 1,480 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 102.37 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in China?
- Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in China was 0.1335 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 China?
- The highest recorded value was 1 in 1961.
- What is the lowest arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1335 in 2023.
- How does China rank for arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops?
- China ranks 158th out of 163 countries with data for 2023.
- Is arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is down 20.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this China 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).