Area of permanent meadows and pastures in France

France: Area of permanent meadows and pastures was 10.37 million hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
10.37 million hectares
Change on year
up 0.0%
World rank
51st
of 208 countries
All-time high
13.93 million hectares
in 1971
All-time low
9.23 million hectares
in 2017
Years of data
63
1961–2023

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

05.0M10.0M15.0M196119922023

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

Analysis

France recorded 10.37 million hectares for area of permanent meadows and pastures in 2023.

That represents a change of up 9.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, area of permanent meadows and pastures in France peaked at 13.93 million hectares in 1971 and was at its lowest, 9.23 million hectares, in 2017.

That places France 51st out of 208 countries with data for 2023, putting it 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 13.48 million hectares 13.11 million hectares 13.91 million hectares 9
1970s 13.42 million hectares 12.91 million hectares 13.93 million hectares 10
1980s 12.29 million hectares 11.78 million hectares 12.85 million hectares 10
1990s 10.95 million hectares 10.43 million hectares 11.60 million hectares 10
2000s 9.99 million hectares 9.74 million hectares 10.31 million hectares 10
2010s 9.46 million hectares 9.23 million hectares 9.61 million hectares 10
2020s 10.38 million hectares 10.37 million hectares 10.40 million hectares 4

Countries ranked near France

  1. 48 Indonesia 11.00 million hectares compare
  2. 49 United Kingdom 10.92 million hectares compare
  3. 50 Guinea 10.70 million hectares compare
  4. 52 India 10.25 million hectares compare
  5. 53 Congo 10.00 million hectares compare
  6. 54 Spain 9.89 million hectares compare

See the full ranking of 210 places →

More reference data data for France

All data for France →

Frequently asked questions

What is area of permanent meadows and pastures in France?
Area of permanent meadows and pastures in France was 10.37 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 France?
The highest recorded value was 13.93 million hectares in 1971.
What is the lowest area of permanent meadows and pastures recorded in France?
The lowest recorded value was 9.23 million hectares in 2017.
How does France rank for area of permanent meadows and pastures?
France ranks 51st out of 208 countries with data for 2023.
Is area of permanent meadows and pastures rising or falling in France?
Over the last ten years it is up 9.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this France 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.