Share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in United Kingdom

United Kingdom: Share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures was 45.15 percent in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
45.15 percent
Change on year
down 3.6%
World rank
24th
of 208 countries
All-time high
51.69 percent
in 1961
All-time low
45.15 percent
in 2012
Years of data
63
1961–2023

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

0204060196119922023

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 United Kingdom is 45.15 percent, measured in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 63 years on record.

The figure is down 3.6% on the previous year and down 0.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in United Kingdom peaked at 51.69 percent in 1961 and was at its lowest, 45.15 percent, in 2012.

United Kingdom ranks 24th of 208 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 50.55 percent 49.78 percent 51.69 percent 9
1970s 47.76 percent 47.39 percent 48.15 percent 10
1980s 46.67 percent 45.91 percent 47.68 percent 10
1990s 46.98 percent 46.13 percent 47.6 percent 10
2000s 46.76 percent 45.62 percent 48.36 percent 10
2010s 46.06 percent 45.15 percent 47.08 percent 10
2020s 46.14 percent 45.15 percent 46.83 percent 4

Countries ranked near United Kingdom

  1. 21 Palestine 46.14 percent compare
  2. 22 Afghanistan 46 percent compare
  3. 23 Botswana 45.17 percent compare
  4. 25 Mozambique 45.1 percent compare
  5. 26 Syria 44.46 percent compare
  6. 27 Guinea 43.55 percent compare

See the full ranking of 210 places →

More reference data data for United Kingdom

All data for United Kingdom →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in United Kingdom?
Share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures in United Kingdom was 45.15 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 United Kingdom?
The highest recorded value was 51.69 percent in 1961.
What is the lowest share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures recorded in United Kingdom?
The lowest recorded value was 45.15 percent in 2012.
How does United Kingdom rank for share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures?
United Kingdom ranks 24th out of 208 countries with data for 2023.
Is share of land used for permanent meadows and pastures rising or falling in United Kingdom?
Over the last ten years it is down 0.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this United Kingdom 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).