Nitrogen use efficiency in United Kingdom

United Kingdom: Nitrogen use efficiency was 66.7% in 2014. ▲ Rising

Latest (2014)
66.7%
Change on year
up 32.5%
World rank
59th
of 205 countries
All-time high
66.7%
in 2014
All-time low
27.0%
in 1976
Years of data
54
1961–2014

Nitrogen use efficiency in United Kingdom, 1961–2014

0204060196119872014

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

Analysis

In 2014, nitrogen use efficiency in United Kingdom stood at 66.7%. That is the highest value across all 54 years on record.

The figure is up 32.5% on the previous year and up 23.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, nitrogen use efficiency in United Kingdom peaked at 66.7% in 2014 and was at its lowest, 27.0%, in 1976.

United Kingdom ranks 59th of 205 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

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

Nitrogen use efficiency in United Kingdom, year by year

Annual values for Nitrogen use efficiency in United Kingdom, 1961 to 2014.
Year % Change
1961 28.4%
1962 31.5% +10.9%
1963 29.2% -7.2%
1964 32.3% +10.5%
1965 31.2% -3.4%
1966 31.0% -0.7%
1967 30.1% -2.6%
1968 31.4% +4.3%
1969 36.9% +17.4%
1970 33.3% -9.8%
1971 33.0% -0.9%
1972 36.7% +11.3%
1973 35.0% -4.9%
1974 36.1% +3.4%
1975 29.5% -18.3%
1976 27.0% -8.5%
1977 33.3% +23.2%
1978 33.7% +1.2%
1979 32.4% -3.8%
1980 37.9% +17.0%
1981 35.7% -5.8%
1982 37.2% +4.1%
1983 35.3% -5.2%
1984 45.9% +30.1%
1985 39.5% -13.9%
1986 42.1% +6.6%
1987 42.4% +0.7%
1988 43.0% +1.2%
1989 43.4% +1.0%
1990 46.3% +6.6%
1991 49.9% +7.9%
1992 54.5% +9.1%
1993 48.9% -10.2%
1994 46.5% -4.9%
1995 49.4% +6.0%
1996 50.5% +2.4%
1997 50.6% +0.1%
1998 51.2% +1.2%
1999 51.9% +1.2%
2000 56.7% +9.4%
2001 44.9% -20.9%
2002 53.2% +18.7%
2003 51.9% -2.5%
2004 53.9% +3.9%
2005 53.9% -0.2%
2006 52.3% -2.8%
2007 49.6% -5.2%
2008 63.2% +27.2%
2009 54.3% -14.1%
2010 53.3% -1.8%
2011 57.4% +7.8%
2012 52.0% -9.5%
2013 50.3% -3.2%
2014 66.7% +32.5%

United Kingdom compared with similar countries

  • United Kingdom's 66.7% is above the median for high income countries, which is 36.0%, 1.9× the median. (69 countries reporting)
  • United Kingdom's 66.7% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 54.4%, 1.2× the median. (49 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 31.3% 28.4% 36.9% 9
1970s 33.0% 27.0% 36.7% 10
1980s 40.2% 35.3% 45.9% 10
1990s 50.0% 46.3% 54.5% 10
2000s 53.4% 44.9% 63.2% 10
2010s 56.0% 50.3% 66.7% 5

Countries ranked near United Kingdom

  1. 56 Guadeloupe 67.1% compare
  2. 57 Niue 66.8% compare
  3. 58 Tuvalu 66.8% compare
  4. 60 Estonia 65.4% compare
  5. 61 Kyrgyzstan 65.2% compare
  6. 62 Mozambique 64.4% compare

See the full ranking of 205 places →

More reference data data for United Kingdom

All data for United Kingdom →

Frequently asked questions

What is nitrogen use efficiency in United Kingdom?
Nitrogen use efficiency in United Kingdom was 66.7% in 2014, according to Lassaletta et al. (2014) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest nitrogen use efficiency recorded in United Kingdom?
The highest recorded value was 66.7% in 2014.
What is the lowest nitrogen use efficiency recorded in United Kingdom?
The lowest recorded value was 27.0% in 1976.
How does United Kingdom rank for nitrogen use efficiency?
United Kingdom ranks 59th out of 205 countries with data for 2014.
Is nitrogen use efficiency rising or falling in United Kingdom?
Over the last ten years it is up 23.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this United Kingdom 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 United Kingdom. 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/united-kingdom/

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/united-kingdom/">Nitrogen use efficiency in United Kingdom</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.