Countries by Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current LCU)

Ranking 2024

Analysis

This metric measures agriculture, forestry, and fishing value added expressed in each country's current local currency unit (LCU). According to the source definition, agriculture, forestry, and fishing corresponds to ISIC (Rev. 4) divisions 01-03 and includes the exploitation of vegetal and animal natural resources, comprising the activities of growing of crops, raising and breeding of animals, harvesting of timber and other plants, animals or animal products from a farm or their natural habitats. Value added is the contribution to the economy by a producer. Because values are in LCU and not converted to a common currency, rankings reflect both the actual size of the agricultural sector and the denomination of the national currency. The dataset covers 201 countries, with 198 of 201 countries (98.5%) having data from the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints rated as official quality. Data year is 2024, though only 173 of 201 countries (86.1%) have data from the latest year specifically. Nine extreme outliers were identified at the 3-sigma threshold.

The top of the ranking is dominated by countries with large-denomination currencies or very large agricultural sectors. Iran ranks 1st at 23,245,097,460,110,300 LCU, far ahead of Indonesia in 2nd at 2,791,428,000,000,000 LCU and Viet Nam in 3rd at 1,365,709,294,189,200 LCU. All three countries have currencies with very large nominal unit values relative to the US dollar, which inflates their LCU figures substantially. Uzbekistan ranks 4th at 266,564,955,200,000 LCU and Colombia ranks 5th at 158,406,000,000,000 LCU, again reflecting high-denomination currencies. Among economies more commonly associated with large agricultural output, India ranks 9th at 53,852,908,437,900 LCU and China ranks 26th at 9,141,388,508,100 LCU, both placing well below countries with weaker currencies despite their substantial real agricultural sectors.

Several placements in the middle and lower portions of the ranking appear counterintuitive when viewed alongside real-world agricultural output. The United States ranks 75th at 223,723,739,000 LCU (USD), while Germany ranks 100th at 39,584,000,000 LCU (EUR) and France ranks 101st at 37,952,700,000 LCU (EUR). These economies have among the world's largest agricultural sectors in real terms but rank far lower because their currencies carry high purchasing power, producing smaller nominal LCU values. Brazil ranks 60th at 677,575,052,414 LCU (BRL). At the very bottom, San Marino ranks 201st at 282,980 LCU (EUR), Aruba ranks 200th at 2,035,766 LCU (AWG), and Tuvalu ranks 198th at 7,799,000 LCU. These are small economies with minimal agricultural activity and stable, higher-value currencies.

The primary limitation of this metric is that LCU values are not comparable across countries. A higher rank does not indicate a larger agricultural sector in real or dollar terms; it may simply reflect a lower-valued national currency. Countries that have experienced high inflation, such as Iran, will accumulate extremely large nominal LCU figures over time, which mechanically elevates their rank. Additionally, 28 of 201 countries (13.9%) do not have data from the latest year (2024), meaning some values may reflect earlier periods. The 9 extreme outliers identified at the 3-sigma threshold are consistent with currency denomination effects rather than data errors, but users should verify individual country figures. Reporting practices and national accounting methods also vary, and the metric excludes upstream and downstream activities beyond farm-gate value added.

Methodology

Metric: Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current LCU). Indicator code: NV.AGR.TOTL.CN. Data source: World Bank World Development Indicators. Data year: 2024. The definition used is as follows: Agriculture, forestry, and fishing corresponds to ISIC (Rev. 4) divisions 01-03 and includes the exploitation of vegetal and animal natural resources, comprising the activities of growing of crops, raising and breeding of animals, harvesting of timber and other plants, animals or animal products from a farm or their natural habitats. Value added is the contribution to the economy by a producer. Values are expressed in each country's current local currency unit and are not adjusted for inflation or converted to a common currency. The dataset covers 201 countries. Coverage: 198 of 201 countries (98.5%) have data from the last 7 years. Data quality: 100% of datapoints are rated official. Latest-year consistency: 173 of 201 countries (86.1%) have data specifically from 2024. Nine extreme outliers were detected at the 3-sigma threshold. The value range runs from 282,979.50 (San Marino) to 23,245,097,460,110,300 (Iran), a spread of over 8,214 trillion percent, driven primarily by currency denomination differences across countries.

Sources

• World Bank