Land statistics describe the human use of the land surface for different purposes and economic activities (land use), as well as the biophysical characteristics associated with both human and natural systems (land cover). FAO collects annual land use data from countries via its land use, irrigation and agricultural practices questionnaire. This information is complemented with land cover data, compiled independently of the questionnaire data from global remote sensing maps.

Main findings:

• In 2022, world total agricultural land was 4 781 million hectares (ha), more than one-third of the global land area. Within agricultural land, cropland covered 1 573 million ha while permanent meadows and pastures were 3 208 million ha.
• The rest of the global land area was almost equally split between forest land, covering 4 050 million ha, and other land, with 4 150 million ha of deserts, glaciers, barren lands, built areas, etc.
• In the two decades since 2001, world total cropland area grew by 80 million ha – about 5 percent – while permanent meadows and pastures lost 170 million ha, a decrease of 6 percent.
• Growth in cropland area from 2001 to 2022 was the result of area expansion in Africa (+73 million ha), South America (+28 million ha) and South-eastern Asia (+22 million ha), which was partially offset by contractions in Northern America (−26 million ha), Eastern Europe (−8 million ha) and Southern Europe (−6 million ha).
• The area used for growing crops grew significantly from 2001 to 2022. Temporary crops (such as wheat, rice and maize) increased by 110 million ha, about 10 percent, reaching 1 085 million ha. Permanent crops (such as cocoa, oil palm and coffee) grew by 55 million ha, reaching 190 million ha in 2022, an increase of 40 percent.
• From 2001 to 2022, while world total cropland area per person decreased by 20 percent, from 0.24 to 0.20 hectares per capita, land productivity, measured in terms of total agricultural gross value of production, grew more strongly – by nearly 60 percent, from USD 546 per hectare to USD 872 per hectare.