Area of permanent meadows and pastures in Australia

Australia: Area of permanent meadows and pastures was 331.87 million hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
331.87 million hectares
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
2nd
of 208 countries
All-time high
491.97 million hectares
in 1968
All-time low
312.22 million hectares
in 2016
Years of data
63
1961–2023

Area of permanent meadows and pastures in Australia, 1961–2023

0100.0M200.0M300.0M400.0M500.0M196119922023

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

Analysis

In 2023, area of permanent meadows and pastures in Australia stood at 331.87 million hectares.

The figure is down 2.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, area of permanent meadows and pastures in Australia peaked at 491.97 million hectares in 1968 and was at its lowest, 312.22 million hectares, in 2016.

Australia ranks 2nd of 208 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.

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

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 471.12 million hectares 459.93 million hectares 491.97 million hectares 9
1970s 481.15 million hectares 474.75 million hectares 486.10 million hectares 10
1980s 462.27 million hectares 447.69 million hectares 477.68 million hectares 10
1990s 444.22 million hectares 430.43 million hectares 451.10 million hectares 10
2000s 393.53 million hectares 356.75 million hectares 431.70 million hectares 10
2010s 338.07 million hectares 312.22 million hectares 364.04 million hectares 10
2020s 330.10 million hectares 324.78 million hectares 331.87 million hectares 4

Countries ranked near Australia

  1. 1 China 392.83 million hectares compare
  2. 3 United States 266.81 million hectares compare
  3. 4 Kazakhstan 184.46 million hectares compare
  4. 5 Brazil 173.36 million hectares compare

See the full ranking of 210 places →

More reference data data for Australia

All data for Australia →

Frequently asked questions

What is area of permanent meadows and pastures in Australia?
Area of permanent meadows and pastures in Australia was 331.87 million hectares 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 area of permanent meadows and pastures recorded in Australia?
The highest recorded value was 491.97 million hectares in 1968.
What is the lowest area of permanent meadows and pastures recorded in Australia?
The lowest recorded value was 312.22 million hectares in 2016.
How does Australia rank for area of permanent meadows and pastures?
Australia ranks 2nd out of 208 countries with data for 2023.
Is area of permanent meadows and pastures rising or falling in Australia?
Over the last ten years it is down 2.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Australia 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 Area of 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
Area of permanent meadows and pastures
Unit
hectares
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

This is the land used for livestock grazing. The total land use for livestock farming is higher as it additionally requires cropland used to grow animal feed.