Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Ireland
Ireland: Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops was 0.8275 in 2017. ▼ Falling
Latest (2017)
0.8275
Change on year
down 3.9%
World rank
29th
of 163 countries
All-time high
1.16
in 1964
All-time low
0.6691
in 1996
Years of data
57
1961–2017
Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Ireland, 1961–2017
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
Ireland recorded 0.8275 for arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in 2017.
The figure is down 3.9% on the previous year and down 15.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Ireland peaked at 1.16 in 1964 and was at its lowest, 0.6691, in 1996.
That places Ireland 29th out of 163 countries with data for 2017, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 57 years of available data.
Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Ireland, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 1 | — |
| 1962 | 0.9814 | -1.9% |
| 1963 | 1.02 | +3.6% |
| 1964 | 1.16 | +13.7% |
| 1965 | 1.08 | -6.9% |
| 1966 | 0.988 | -8.1% |
| 1967 | 0.9368 | -5.2% |
| 1968 | 0.9162 | -2.2% |
| 1969 | 0.9494 | +3.6% |
| 1970 | 0.9694 | +2.1% |
| 1971 | 0.9302 | -4.0% |
| 1972 | 1.05 | +13.1% |
| 1973 | 0.9306 | -11.5% |
| 1974 | 0.9547 | +2.6% |
| 1975 | 0.9303 | -2.6% |
| 1976 | 0.9275 | -0.3% |
| 1977 | 0.7639 | -17.6% |
| 1978 | 0.9083 | +18.9% |
| 1979 | 0.9312 | +2.5% |
| 1980 | 0.981 | +5.4% |
| 1981 | 0.997 | +1.6% |
| 1982 | 0.8553 | -14.2% |
| 1983 | 0.9577 | +12.0% |
| 1984 | 0.7948 | -17.0% |
| 1985 | 0.9343 | +17.6% |
| 1986 | 0.93 | -0.5% |
| 1987 | 0.7911 | -14.9% |
| 1988 | 0.7794 | -1.5% |
| 1989 | 0.8203 | +5.2% |
| 1990 | 0.732 | -10.8% |
| 1991 | 0.7267 | -0.7% |
| 1992 | 0.6992 | -3.8% |
| 1993 | 0.8365 | +19.6% |
| 1994 | 0.7787 | -6.9% |
| 1995 | 0.7515 | -3.5% |
| 1996 | 0.6691 | -11.0% |
| 1997 | 0.7976 | +19.2% |
| 1998 | 0.8498 | +6.5% |
| 1999 | 0.8421 | -0.9% |
| 2000 | 0.875 | +3.9% |
| 2001 | 0.905 | +3.4% |
| 2002 | 0.9708 | +7.3% |
| 2003 | 0.9444 | -2.7% |
| 2004 | 0.8143 | -13.8% |
| 2005 | 0.9377 | +15.2% |
| 2006 | 0.9569 | +2.0% |
| 2007 | 0.9841 | +2.8% |
| 2008 | 0.9134 | -7.2% |
| 2009 | 0.9894 | +8.3% |
| 2010 | 0.91 | -8.0% |
| 2011 | 0.824 | -9.4% |
| 2012 | 1.01 | +22.2% |
| 2013 | 0.8709 | -13.5% |
| 2014 | 0.8175 | -6.1% |
| 2015 | 0.7785 | -4.8% |
| 2016 | 0.8614 | +10.6% |
| 2017 | 0.8275 | -3.9% |
Ireland compared with similar countries
- Ireland's 0.8275 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.5062, 1.6× the median. (53 countries reporting)
- Ireland's 0.8275 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.5463, 1.5× the median. (24 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1 | 0.9162 | 1.16 | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.9298 | 0.7639 | 1.05 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.8841 | 0.7794 | 0.997 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.7683 | 0.6691 | 0.8498 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.9291 | 0.8143 | 0.9894 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.8621 | 0.7785 | 1.01 | 8 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More reference data data for Ireland
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.45 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.19 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 4.37 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0921 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 4.37 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 4.87 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 3.37 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 5.6 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 21.02 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.5015 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Ireland?
- Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Ireland was 0.8275 in 2017, 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 Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 1.16 in 1964.
- What is the lowest arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.6691 in 1996.
- How does Ireland rank for arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops?
- Ireland ranks 29th out of 163 countries with data for 2017.
- Is arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 15.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ireland 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 — 57 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).