Share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in Switzerland

Switzerland: Share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures was 27.12 percent in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
27.12 percent
Change on year
down 0.3%
World rank
61st
of 208 countries
All-time high
33.6 percent
in 1961
All-time low
27.12 percent
in 2023
Years of data
63
1961–2023

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

0102030196119922023

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

Analysis

The most recent figure for share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in Switzerland is 27.12 percent, measured in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 63 years on record.

The figure is down 0.3% on the previous year and down 2.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in Switzerland peaked at 33.6 percent in 1961 and was at its lowest, 27.12 percent, in 2023.

Switzerland ranks 61st of 208 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.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 33.26 percent 33.11 percent 33.6 percent 9
1970s 32.09 percent 31.62 percent 32.92 percent 10
1980s 30.68 percent 29.81 percent 31.64 percent 10
1990s 29.09 percent 28.7 percent 29.82 percent 10
2000s 28.39 percent 28.05 percent 28.69 percent 10
2010s 27.7 percent 27.38 percent 28.01 percent 10
2020s 27.22 percent 27.12 percent 27.3 percent 4

Countries ranked near Switzerland

  1. 58 Nicaragua 27.36 percent compare
  2. 59 Cuba 27.35 percent compare
  3. 60 Argentina 27.29 percent compare
  4. 63 Tanzania 27.09 percent compare
  5. 64 Zambia 26.9 percent compare

See the full ranking of 210 places →

More reference data data for Switzerland

All data for Switzerland →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in Switzerland?
Share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in Switzerland was 27.12 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 Switzerland?
The highest recorded value was 33.6 percent in 1961.
What is the lowest share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures recorded in Switzerland?
The lowest recorded value was 27.12 percent in 2023.
How does Switzerland rank for share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures?
Switzerland ranks 61st out of 208 countries with data for 2023.
Is share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures rising or falling in Switzerland?
Over the last ten years it is down 2.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Switzerland 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).