Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in New Zealand

New Zealand: Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops was 0.2072 in 2023. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2023)
0.2072
Change on year
down 3.3%
World rank
129th
of 163 countries
All-time high
1
in 1961
All-time low
0.2072
in 2023
Years of data
63
1961–2023

Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in New Zealand, 1961–2023

0.20.40.60.81196119922023

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

New Zealand recorded 0.2072 for arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 63 years on record.

The figure is down 3.3% on the previous year and down 21.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in New Zealand peaked at 1 in 1961 and was at its lowest, 0.2072, in 2023.

That places New Zealand 129th 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.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 0.8102 0.6079 1 9
1970s 0.5895 0.545 0.6478 10
1980s 0.4376 0.319 0.5353 10
1990s 0.263 0.2382 0.2991 10
2000s 0.2373 0.2293 0.2558 10
2010s 0.2388 0.2212 0.2621 10
2020s 0.2206 0.2072 0.2499 4

Countries ranked near New Zealand

  1. 126 Cambodia 0.2201 compare
  2. 127 Ecuador 0.2173 compare
  3. 128 Malawi 0.2143 compare
  4. 130 Myanmar 0.2065 compare
  5. 131 Yemen 0.2044 compare
  6. 132 Turkey 0.2017 compare

See the full ranking of 163 places →

More reference data data for New Zealand

All data for New Zealand →

Frequently asked questions

What is arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in New Zealand?
Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in New Zealand was 0.2072 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 New Zealand?
The highest recorded value was 1 in 1961.
What is the lowest arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops recorded in New Zealand?
The lowest recorded value was 0.2072 in 2023.
How does New Zealand rank for arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops?
New Zealand ranks 129th out of 163 countries with data for 2023.
Is arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops rising or falling in New Zealand?
Over the last ten years it is down 21.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this New Zealand 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

Indicator
Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops
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
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
163 places, 10,097 data points, 1961–2023
Last refreshed

Index of arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops (where values in 1961 are equal to 1.0).