Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Malawi
Malawi: Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops was 0.2143 in 2023. ▼ Falling
Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Malawi, 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 Malawi stood at 0.2143. That is the lowest value across all 58 years on record.
The figure is down 1.7% on the previous year and down 24.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Malawi peaked at 1.13 in 1966 and was at its lowest, 0.2143, in 2023.
Malawi ranks 128th of 163 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 58 years of available data.
Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Malawi, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 1 | — |
| 1962 | 1 | +0.3% |
| 1963 | 1.07 | +7.1% |
| 1964 | 1.05 | -2.3% |
| 1965 | 1.11 | +6.1% |
| 1966 | 1.13 | +1.6% |
| 1967 | 0.9599 | -15.2% |
| 1968 | 1.08 | +12.3% |
| 1969 | 1.09 | +0.9% |
| 1970 | 1.09 | +0.1% |
| 1971 | 0.9794 | -10.1% |
| 1972 | 0.9493 | -3.1% |
| 1973 | 0.9242 | -2.7% |
| 1974 | 0.93 | +0.6% |
| 1975 | 0.9148 | -1.6% |
| 1976 | 0.859 | -6.1% |
| 1977 | 0.7793 | -9.3% |
| 1978 | 0.788 | +1.1% |
| 1979 | 0.7927 | +0.6% |
| 1980 | 0.7513 | -5.2% |
| 1981 | 0.7635 | +1.6% |
| 1982 | 0.7581 | -0.7% |
| 1983 | 0.7643 | +0.8% |
| 1984 | 0.7503 | -1.8% |
| 1985 | 0.7342 | -2.1% |
| 1986 | 0.7673 | +4.5% |
| 1987 | 0.7777 | +1.4% |
| 1988 | 0.7355 | -5.4% |
| 1989 | 0.7533 | +2.4% |
| 1990 | 0.7635 | +1.4% |
| 1996 | 0.541 | -29.1% |
| 1997 | 0.5672 | +4.8% |
| 1998 | 0.5234 | -7.7% |
| 1999 | 0.4918 | -6.0% |
| 2000 | 0.4315 | -12.3% |
| 2001 | 0.4263 | -1.2% |
| 2002 | 0.5311 | +24.6% |
| 2003 | 0.4884 | -8.0% |
| 2004 | 0.4616 | -5.5% |
| 2005 | 0.5759 | +24.7% |
| 2006 | 0.4401 | -23.6% |
| 2007 | 0.3871 | -12.0% |
| 2008 | 0.3981 | +2.8% |
| 2009 | 0.344 | -13.6% |
| 2010 | 0.3464 | +0.7% |
| 2011 | 0.335 | -3.3% |
| 2012 | 0.3249 | -3.0% |
| 2013 | 0.282 | -13.2% |
| 2014 | 0.2448 | -13.2% |
| 2015 | 0.2659 | +8.6% |
| 2016 | 0.2782 | +4.6% |
| 2017 | 0.2413 | -13.3% |
| 2018 | 0.2383 | -1.2% |
| 2019 | 0.2271 | -4.7% |
| 2020 | 0.2232 | -1.7% |
| 2021 | 0.2153 | -3.6% |
| 2022 | 0.218 | +1.3% |
| 2023 | 0.2143 | -1.7% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's 0.2143 is below the median for low income countries, which is 0.4868, 44% of the median. (21 countries reporting)
- Malawi's 0.2143 is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.3874, 55% of the median. (44 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.06 | 0.9599 | 1.13 | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.9006 | 0.7793 | 1.09 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.7556 | 0.7342 | 0.7777 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.5774 | 0.4918 | 0.7635 | 5 |
| 2000s | 0.4484 | 0.344 | 0.5759 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.2784 | 0.2271 | 0.3464 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.2177 | 0.2143 | 0.2232 | 4 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More reference data data for Malawi
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.1596 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 1.09 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 3.71 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.3426 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 3.71 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.5353 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.6012 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 4.92 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 16.7 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.87 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Malawi?
- Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in Malawi was 0.2143 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 Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 1.13 in 1966.
- What is the lowest arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.2143 in 2023.
- How does Malawi rank for arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops?
- Malawi ranks 128th out of 163 countries with data for 2023.
- Is arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is down 24.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Malawi 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 — 58 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).