Share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in Iceland

Iceland: Share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures was 15.05 percent in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
15.05 percent
Change on year
down 13.4%
World rank
101st
of 208 countries
All-time high
19.95 percent
in 1961
All-time low
15.05 percent
in 2023
Years of data
63
1961–2023

Share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in Iceland, 1961–2023

05101520196119922023

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in percent.

Analysis

In 2023, share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in Iceland stood at 15.05 percent. That is the lowest value across all 63 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 13.4% on the previous year and down 13.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in Iceland peaked at 19.95 percent in 1961 and was at its lowest, 15.05 percent, in 2023.

That places Iceland 101st out of 208 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 19.95 percent 19.95 percent 19.95 percent 9
1970s 18.25 percent 17.76 percent 18.75 percent 10
1980s 17.62 percent 17.61 percent 17.63 percent 10
1990s 17.59 percent 17.56 percent 17.61 percent 10
2000s 17.51 percent 17.47 percent 17.56 percent 10
2010s 17.45 percent 17.37 percent 17.47 percent 10
2020s 16.79 percent 15.05 percent 17.37 percent 4

Countries ranked near Iceland

  1. 98 Rwanda 15.65 percent compare
  2. 99 Belgium 15.31 percent compare
  3. 100 El Salvador 15.19 percent compare
  4. 103 Guam 14.81 percent compare
  5. 104 Austria 14.66 percent compare

See the full ranking of 210 places →

More reference data data for Iceland

All data for Iceland →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in Iceland?
Share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in Iceland was 15.05 percent in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures recorded in Iceland?
The highest recorded value was 19.95 percent in 1961.
What is the lowest share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures recorded in Iceland?
The lowest recorded value was 15.05 percent in 2023.
How does Iceland rank for share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures?
Iceland ranks 101st out of 208 countries with data for 2023.
Is share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures rising or falling in Iceland?
Over the last ten years it is down 13.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Iceland data come from?
The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures. 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
Share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures
Unit
percent
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
210 places, 12,094 data points, 1961–2023
Last refreshed

Permanent meadows and pastures are areas used permanently (five years or more) for herbaceous forage crops, either cultivated or growing wild (wild prairie or grazing land).