Nitrogen use efficiency in Canada

Canada: Nitrogen use efficiency was 59.5% in 2014. ▼ Falling

Latest (2014)
59.5%
Change on year
down 9.4%
World rank
75th
of 205 countries
All-time high
190.9%
in 1963
All-time low
48.1%
in 2002
Years of data
54
1961–2014

Nitrogen use efficiency in Canada, 1961–2014

50100150200196119872014

Source: Lassaletta et al. (2014) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

In 2014, nitrogen use efficiency in Canada stood at 59.5%.

The figure is down 9.4% on the previous year and down 13.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, nitrogen use efficiency in Canada peaked at 190.9% in 1963 and was at its lowest, 48.1%, in 2002.

That places Canada 75th out of 205 countries with data for 2014, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 54 years of available data.

Nitrogen use efficiency in Canada, year by year

Annual values for Nitrogen use efficiency in Canada, 1961 to 2014.
Year % Change
1961 123.4%
1962 181.8% +47.3%
1963 190.9% +5.0%
1964 152.1% -20.3%
1965 152.9% +0.6%
1966 158.3% +3.5%
1967 115.7% -26.9%
1968 149.0% +28.8%
1969 149.1% +0.0%
1970 123.0% -17.5%
1971 138.1% +12.3%
1972 111.8% -19.1%
1973 101.2% -9.5%
1974 85.4% -15.5%
1975 99.7% +16.7%
1976 107.8% +8.1%
1977 91.9% -14.7%
1978 89.1% -3.0%
1979 79.0% -11.4%
1980 75.7% -4.1%
1981 85.7% +13.2%
1982 84.1% -1.9%
1983 68.4% -18.7%
1984 61.8% -9.6%
1985 70.0% +13.2%
1986 86.0% +22.9%
1987 76.4% -11.2%
1988 57.6% -24.6%
1989 69.1% +20.0%
1990 82.3% +19.0%
1991 75.3% -8.5%
1992 67.5% -10.3%
1993 69.4% +2.8%
1994 66.9% -3.7%
1995 64.0% -4.2%
1996 66.6% +4.1%
1997 62.3% -6.5%
1998 66.3% +6.5%
1999 68.9% +3.8%
2000 67.5% -2.0%
2001 56.6% -16.0%
2002 48.1% -15.0%
2003 62.6% +30.1%
2004 68.8% +9.9%
2005 66.0% -4.2%
2006 76.0% +15.2%
2007 57.2% -24.7%
2008 71.9% +25.6%
2009 67.8% -5.6%
2010 61.6% -9.1%
2011 55.7% -9.6%
2012 61.0% +9.4%
2013 65.7% +7.8%
2014 59.5% -9.4%

Canada compared with similar countries

  • Canada's 59.5% is above the median for high income countries, which is 36.0%, 1.7× the median. (69 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 152.6% 115.7% 190.9% 9
1970s 102.7% 79.0% 138.1% 10
1980s 73.5% 57.6% 86.0% 10
1990s 69.0% 62.3% 82.3% 10
2000s 64.3% 48.1% 76.0% 10
2010s 60.7% 55.7% 65.7% 5

Countries ranked near Canada

  1. 72 Madagascar 61.3% compare
  2. 73 Mali 60.2% compare
  3. 74 Myanmar 60.1% compare
  4. 76 Afghanistan 59.5% compare
  5. 77 South Africa 59.4% compare
  6. 78 Turkey 59.0% compare

See the full ranking of 205 places →

More reference data data for Canada

All data for Canada →

Frequently asked questions

What is nitrogen use efficiency in Canada?
Nitrogen use efficiency in Canada was 59.5% in 2014, according to Lassaletta et al. (2014) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest nitrogen use efficiency recorded in Canada?
The highest recorded value was 190.9% in 1963.
What is the lowest nitrogen use efficiency recorded in Canada?
The lowest recorded value was 48.1% in 2002.
How does Canada rank for nitrogen use efficiency?
Canada ranks 75th out of 205 countries with data for 2014.
Is nitrogen use efficiency rising or falling in Canada?
Over the last ten years it is down 13.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Canada data come from?
The figures come from Lassaletta et al. (2014) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Nitrogen use efficiency. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 54 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Nitrogen use efficiency in Canada. Statizoid, drawing on Lassaletta et al. (2014) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 22 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/nitrogen-use-efficiency/canada/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/nitrogen-use-efficiency/canada/">Nitrogen use efficiency in Canada</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Nitrogen use efficiency
Unit
%
Source
Lassaletta et al. (2014) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
205 places, 10,031 data points, 1961–2014
Last refreshed

Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is the ratio between nitrogen inputs and output. A NUE of 40% means that only 40% of nitrogen inputs are converted into nitrogen in the form of crops.