Countries by Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (% of GDP)
The Syrian Arab Republic ranks 1st globally with agriculture, forestry, and fishing accounting for 43.06% of GDP, the highest share among 201 countries measured. At the other end, San Marino ranks 201st at just 0.015% of GDP. The gap of more than 43 percentage points reflects how differently economies depend on primary sector activity.
Ranking 2024
Values shown in %.
Analysis
This metric measures agriculture, forestry, and fishing value added as a share of GDP. Value added is the contribution to the economy by a producer. 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. The indicator is expressed as a percentage of GDP. Data covers 201 countries drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators (indicator code NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS), with a reference year of 2024. Of the 201 countries, 198 (98.5%) have data from the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. Eight extreme outliers were identified using a 3-standard-deviation threshold.
The top of the ranking is dominated by sub-Saharan African and conflict-affected states. The Syrian Arab Republic leads at 43.06% (rank 1), followed by Guinea-Bissau at 42.17% (rank 2) and Chad at 37.70% (rank 3). Comoros ranks 4th at 36.63% and Burundi 5th at 34.91%. Ethiopia (rank 6, 34.77%), Afghanistan (rank 7, 34.74%), and Niger (rank 8, 34.46%) also sit above 34%. Among larger economies, Nigeria ranks 18th at 25.87% and Pakistan ranks 24th at 23.74%. These high shares indicate that primary sector activity constitutes the majority of economic output in these countries.
In the middle of the ranking, India sits at rank 49 with 16.29% and Indonesia at rank 60 with 12.61%. Brazil, often associated with large-scale agriculture, ranks 105th at only 5.76%, reflecting the large size of its broader economy. One notable anomaly is Greenland at rank 48 with 16.56% and Faroe Islands at rank 50 with 16.07%, both small autonomous territories with fishing-heavy economies placing them alongside much larger developing nations. Among high-income economies, New Zealand ranks 111th at 4.57% and Australia 150th at 2.04%. Singapore ranks 200th at 0.027%, with only San Marino (rank 201, 0.015%) recording a lower share.
Several data limitations apply to this metric. The 2024 reference year has complete data for 173 of 201 countries (86.1%), meaning some values are estimates or carry-forwards from prior years. The metric captures value added share of GDP rather than absolute agricultural output, so a country with a shrinking economy can show a rising share even without growth in farming activity. Conversely, rapid growth in services or industry can reduce a country's share without any decline in agriculture. The metric also does not distinguish subsistence farming from commercial agriculture, nor does it capture informal activity that goes unrecorded. Conflict-affected states such as Syria and South Sudan may face particular reporting challenges that affect the reliability of their figures.
Methodology
Data source: World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS, data year 2024. The metric measures agriculture, forestry, and fishing value added as a percentage of GDP. Per 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. The ranking covers 201 countries. Coverage: 198 of 201 countries (98.5%) have data from the last seven years. Data quality: 100% of datapoints are classified as official. Consistency for the latest year (2024): 173 of 201 countries (86.1%) report data directly for that year. Eight extreme outliers were identified at the 3-standard-deviation threshold. The average year-over-year change across the dataset is 9.0%. Values range from 0.015% (San Marino) to 43.06% (Syrian Arab Republic), a spread of over 285,000%.