Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in United States
United States: Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops was 0.3106 in 2023. ▼ Falling
Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in United States, 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 United States is 0.3106, measured in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 6.4% on the previous year and down 9.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in United States peaked at 1 in 1961 and was at its lowest, 0.3006, in 2016.
United States ranks 100th of 163 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
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 United States, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 1 | — |
| 1962 | 0.9728 | -2.7% |
| 1963 | 0.9477 | -2.6% |
| 1964 | 0.9768 | +3.1% |
| 1965 | 0.8872 | -9.2% |
| 1966 | 0.8956 | +1.0% |
| 1967 | 0.8396 | -6.3% |
| 1968 | 0.8443 | +0.6% |
| 1969 | 0.8712 | +3.2% |
| 1970 | 0.9137 | +4.9% |
| 1971 | 0.7952 | -13.0% |
| 1972 | 0.7993 | +0.5% |
| 1973 | 0.7432 | -7.0% |
| 1974 | 0.811 | +9.1% |
| 1975 | 0.7137 | -12.0% |
| 1976 | 0.7151 | +0.2% |
| 1977 | 0.6599 | -7.7% |
| 1978 | 0.6589 | -0.1% |
| 1979 | 0.5935 | -9.9% |
| 1980 | 0.6582 | +10.9% |
| 1981 | 0.5723 | -13.1% |
| 1982 | 0.564 | -1.5% |
| 1983 | 0.769 | +36.4% |
| 1984 | 0.5956 | -22.5% |
| 1985 | 0.5586 | -6.2% |
| 1986 | 0.612 | +9.5% |
| 1987 | 0.6061 | -1.0% |
| 1988 | 0.7136 | +17.7% |
| 1989 | 0.6045 | -15.3% |
| 1990 | 0.5651 | -6.5% |
| 1991 | 0.5828 | +3.1% |
| 1992 | 0.5115 | -12.2% |
| 1993 | 0.5942 | +16.2% |
| 1994 | 0.4727 | -20.5% |
| 1995 | 0.5529 | +17.0% |
| 1996 | 0.4906 | -11.3% |
| 1997 | 0.465 | -5.2% |
| 1998 | 0.4661 | +0.2% |
| 1999 | 0.4613 | -1.0% |
| 2000 | 0.4491 | -2.6% |
| 2001 | 0.4615 | +2.8% |
| 2002 | 0.4743 | +2.8% |
| 2003 | 0.4479 | -5.6% |
| 2004 | 0.3946 | -11.9% |
| 2005 | 0.4045 | +2.5% |
| 2006 | 0.4151 | +2.6% |
| 2007 | 0.381 | -8.2% |
| 2008 | 0.381 | -0.0% |
| 2009 | 0.3623 | -4.9% |
| 2010 | 0.36 | -0.7% |
| 2011 | 0.3673 | +2.0% |
| 2012 | 0.3683 | +0.3% |
| 2013 | 0.3419 | -7.2% |
| 2014 | 0.326 | -4.6% |
| 2015 | 0.335 | +2.8% |
| 2016 | 0.3006 | -10.3% |
| 2017 | 0.3202 | +6.5% |
| 2018 | 0.3189 | -0.4% |
| 2019 | 0.3385 | +6.1% |
| 2020 | 0.3197 | -5.6% |
| 2021 | 0.3082 | -3.6% |
| 2022 | 0.3319 | +7.7% |
| 2023 | 0.3106 | -6.4% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 0.3106 is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.5062, 61% of the median. (53 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 0.915 | 0.8396 | 1 | 9 |
| 1970s | 0.7404 | 0.5935 | 0.9137 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.6254 | 0.5586 | 0.769 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.5162 | 0.4613 | 0.5942 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.4171 | 0.3623 | 0.4743 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.3377 | 0.3006 | 0.3683 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.3176 | 0.3082 | 0.3319 | 4 |
Countries ranked near United States
More reference data data for United States
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 19.34 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 24.55 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 119.42 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 20.7 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 119.42 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 64.85 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 52.14 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 133.45 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 589.96 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 112.69 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in United States?
- Arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops in United States was 0.3106 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 United States?
- The highest recorded value was 1 in 1961.
- What is the lowest arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3006 in 2016.
- How does United States rank for arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops?
- United States ranks 100th out of 163 countries with data for 2023.
- Is arable land needed to produce a fixed quantity of crops rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 9.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this United States 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).