Countries by Arable land (hectares)
India commands 153.8 million hectares of arable land, more than any country on Earth. The Faroe Islands, by contrast, have just 70 hectares—barely enough for a small farm. This 219-billion-percent gap across 206 countries reflects geography's decisive role in agricultural capacity.
Ranking 2023
| Rank | Country | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | India | 153,868,700 |
| 2 | United States | 151563525.1 |
| 3 | Russia | 121,649,000 |
| 4 | China | 108,427,100 |
| 5 | Brazil | 55,642,000 |
| 6 | Argentina | 40387343.1 |
| 7 | Canada | 38,151,000 |
| 8 | Nigeria | 36,872,000 |
| 9 | Ukraine | 32,924,000 |
| 10 | Australia | 30989678.2 |
| 11 | Pakistan | 30,260,000 |
| 12 | Kazakhstan | 29,669,700 |
| 13 | Sudan | 20,995,000 |
| 14 | Türkiye | 20,277,000 |
| 15 | Mexico | 20023594.6 |
| 16 | Indonesia | 17,782,903 |
| 17 | Niger | 17,700,000 |
| 18 | France | 16,899,246 |
| 19 | Ethiopia | 16,399,972 |
| 20 | Thailand | 15,835,200 |
| 21 | Iran | 15,699,000 |
| 22 | DR Congo | 14897863.8 |
| 23 | Tanzania | 13,502,500 |
| 24 | South Africa | 12,000,000 |
| 25 | Germany | 11,681,000 |
| 26 | Spain | 11,496,755 |
| 27 | Poland | 11,202,000 |
| 28 | Myanmar | 11,007,332 |
| 29 | Romania | 8,407,000 |
| 30 | Mali | 8,341,000 |
| 31 | Burkina Faso | 7907388.7 |
| 32 | Bangladesh | 7,880,400 |
| 33 | Afghanistan | 7,846,000 |
| 34 | Algeria | 7,531,000 |
| 35 | Italy | 7,084,477 |
| 36 | Uganda | 6,900,000 |
| 37 | Morocco | 6874051.8 |
| 38 | Vietnam | 6,728,480 |
| 39 | Kenya | 6632158.9 |
| 40 | Cameroon | 6,200,000 |
| 41 | United Kingdom | 6043691.6 |
| 42 | Guinea | 6,000,091 |
| 43 | Mozambique | 5,650,000 |
| 44 | Philippines | 5,590,000 |
| 45 | Belarus | 5,567,800 |
| 46 | Bolivia | 5562567.6 |
| 47 | Angola | 5,385,000 |
| 48 | Chad | 5,300,000 |
| 49 | Iraq | 4,969,000 |
| 50 | Côte d'Ivoire | 4803009.7 |
| 51 | Ghana | 4,709,900 |
| 52 | Paraguay | 4,561,000 |
| 53 | Syria | 4,400,000 |
| 54 | Hungary | 4,144,147 |
| 55 | Cambodia | 4120139.7 |
| 56 | Japan | 4,044,000 |
| 57 | Uzbekistan | 4,029,000 |
| 58 | Zimbabwe | 4020407.7 |
| 59 | Malawi | 4,000,000 |
| 60 | Peru | 3,918,431 |
| 61 | Senegal | 3,830,000 |
| 62 | Zambia | 3,800,000 |
| 63 | Benin | 3545952.3 |
| 64 | Bulgaria | 3,486,550 |
| 65 | Saudi Arabia | 3,430,417 |
| 66 | Egypt | 3,103,000 |
| 67 | Madagascar | 3,000,000 |
| 68 | Cuba | 2,908,600 |
| 69 | Tunisia | 2,831,300 |
| 70 | Togo | 2,650,000 |
| 71 | Serbia | 2,603,000 |
| 72 | Venezuela | 2,600,000 |
| 73 | Colombia | 2,549,300 |
| 74 | Sweden | 2,526,000 |
| 75 | Czechia | 2,524,276 |
| 76 | South Sudan | 2489233.3 |
| 77 | Denmark | 2,365,000 |
| 78 | Lithuania | 2,303,000 |
| 79 | North Korea | 2,295,000 |
| 80 | Finland | 2,244,000 |
| 81 | Uruguay | 2,199,600 |
| 82 | Azerbaijan | 2,091,700 |
| 83 | Moldova | 1,871,000 |
| 84 | Greece | 1861153.1 |
| 85 | Nepal | 1,803,800 |
| 86 | Central African Republic | 1,800,000 |
| 87 | Libya | 1,720,000 |
| 88 | Turkmenistan | 1591539.2 |
| 89 | Sierra Leone | 1,584,000 |
| 90 | Guatemala | 1,554,000 |
| 91 | Nicaragua | 1,503,000 |
| 92 | South Korea | 1,456,000 |
| 93 | Chile | 1,406,900 |
| 94 | Sri Lanka | 1,372,000 |
| 95 | Latvia | 1,360,000 |
| 96 | Austria | 1321781.6 |
| 97 | Burundi | 1321206.8 |
| 98 | Slovakia | 1,307,000 |
| 99 | Kyrgyzstan | 1,286,385 |
| 100 | Laos | 1,224,000 |
| 101 | Rwanda | 1,159,071 |
| 102 | Yemen | 1,158,000 |
| 103 | Mongolia | 1143268.5 |
| 104 | Somalia | 1,100,000 |
| 105 | Ecuador | 1,028,000 |
| 106 | Honduras | 1,018,000 |
| 107 | Netherlands | 1,009,000 |
| 108 | Haiti | 1,005,000 |
| 109 | Dominican Republic | 975759.7 |
| 110 | Portugal | 927262.8 |
| 111 | Croatia | 868,000 |
| 112 | Belgium | 863153.6 |
| 113 | Tajikistan | 844,400 |
| 114 | Norway | 803,000 |
| 115 | Namibia | 800,000 |
| 116 | Malaysia | 784,300 |
| 117 | El Salvador | 721,000 |
| 118 | Estonia | 711,000 |
| 119 | Eritrea | 690,000 |
| 120 | Albania | 590,700 |
| 121 | Panama | 565,000 |
| 122 | Republic of Congo | 550,000 |
| 123 | New Zealand | 520,000 |
| 124 | Liberia | 500,000 |
| 125 | Mauritania | 450,000 |
| 126 | Armenia | 441,600 |
| 127 | Gambia | 440,000 |
| 128 | Ireland | 439,000 |
| 129 | North Macedonia | 416,000 |
| 130 | Switzerland | 396420.9 |
| 131 | Guinea-Bissau | 395530.5 |
| 132 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 370,000 |
| 133 | Lesotho | 356,748 |
| 134 | Papua New Guinea | 330,000 |
| 135 | Gabon | 325,000 |
| 136 | Georgia | 304,000 |
| 137 | Israel | 271,400 |
| 138 | Botswana | 260,000 |
| 139 | Jordan | 204,000 |
| 140 | Slovenia | 178,890 |
| 141 | Eswatini | 177,000 |
| 142 | Costa Rica | 167133.4 |
| 143 | Lebanon | 134213.8 |
| 144 | Iceland | 121,000 |
| 145 | Jamaica | 120,000 |
| 146 | Timor-Leste | 111,500 |
| 147 | Belize | 100,000 |
| 147 | Bhutan | 100,000 |
| 149 | Cyprus | 97873.3 |
| 150 | Guyana | 97,000 |
| 151 | Oman | 87,130 |
| 152 | Fiji | 76,800 |
| 153 | Mauritius | 75,000 |
| 154 | Comoros | 65,000 |
| 155 | Luxembourg | 61,326 |
| 156 | Equatorial Guinea | 53,000 |
| 157 | Suriname | 52,965 |
| 158 | United Arab Emirates | 50,384 |
| 159 | Puerto Rico | 50,200 |
| 160 | Cabo Verde | 50,000 |
| 161 | Palestine | 41,900 |
| 162 | Trinidad and Tobago | 25,000 |
| 163 | Isle of Man | 23439.9 |
| 164 | Solomon Islands | 23,000 |
| 165 | Qatar | 21,000 |
| 166 | Tonga | 20,000 |
| 166 | Vanuatu | 20,000 |
| 168 | Samoa | 10,710 |
| 169 | Montenegro | 9,050 |
| 170 | Bahamas | 8,000 |
| 170 | Kuwait | 8,000 |
| 172 | Malta | 7,300 |
| 173 | Barbados | 7,000 |
| 174 | Dominica | 6,000 |
| 175 | New Caledonia | 5,970 |
| 176 | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 5,000 |
| 177 | Antigua and Barbuda | 4,000 |
| 177 | Brunei | 4,000 |
| 177 | Maldives | 4,000 |
| 177 | Sao Tome and Principe | 4,000 |
| 181 | Djibouti | 3,000 |
| 181 | Grenada | 3,000 |
| 183 | Saint Lucia | 2,670 |
| 184 | French Polynesia | 2,500 |
| 185 | Bahrain | 2,100 |
| 186 | Aruba | 2,000 |
| 186 | Hong Kong | 2,000 |
| 186 | Kiribati | 2,000 |
| 186 | Micronesia | 2,000 |
| 186 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 2,000 |
| 191 | San Marino | 1,985 |
| 192 | Liechtenstein | 1,730 |
| 193 | American Samoa | 1,030 |
| 194 | British Virgin Islands | 1,000 |
| 194 | Guam | 1,000 |
| 194 | Turks and Caicos Islands | 1,000 |
| 197 | U.S. Virgin Islands | 900 |
| 198 | Andorra | 732.5 |
| 199 | Singapore | 560 |
| 200 | Marshall Islands | 500 |
| 201 | Bermuda | 300 |
| 201 | Palau | 300 |
| 203 | Cayman Islands | 200 |
| 204 | Seychelles | 150 |
| 205 | Northern Mariana Islands | 80 |
| 206 | Faroe Islands | 70 |
Analysis
Arable land measures the total territory under temporary crops, meadows for hay or pasture, market gardens, and temporarily fallowed land—expressed in hectares. It excludes forestry and permanent pastures used only for grazing. This metric matters because it directly constrains a nation's food production capacity. A country with vast arable land can produce surplus for export; one with little must import food. Arable land is remarkably stable, with year-over-year changes averaging just 1.7%, indicating agricultural land is converted slowly and deliberately. All 206 countries reported 2023 data with 100% official data quality.
Four countries dominate the rankings absolutely. India (153.8M ha) and the United States (151.5M ha) are nearly tied for the lead. Russia (121.6M ha) and China (108.4M ha) follow with over 100 million hectares each. These four nations account for roughly half the world's arable land. The next tier of major agricultural powers—Brazil (55.6M ha), Argentina (40.4M ha), Canada (38.2M ha), and Nigeria (36.9M ha)—each has 30-56 million hectares. By rank 25, numbers drop sharply: Germany has 11.6 million hectares, France 16.9 million. Developed European nations cluster in the 7-17 million hectare range despite their wealth. Island nations and city-states rank lowest: Singapore (560 ha, rank 199), Seychelles (150 ha, rank 204), and the Faroe Islands (70 ha, rank 206) have virtually no arable land.
Size matters more than wealth. The United States ranks second with 151.5 million hectares, slightly behind India. Yet Germany—a far wealthier, more densely developed nation—has just 11.6 million hectares. France, Europe's largest arable land holder, has 16.9 million hectares. Pakistan (rank 11, 30.3M ha) and Bangladesh (rank 32, 7.88M ha) both support enormous agricultural populations despite arable land that pales against Russia or Canada. This suggests population pressure and farming efficiency matter as much as sheer land availability. African nations show wide variation: Nigeria ranks 8th with 36.9 million hectares, while smaller nations cluster far lower. The pattern indicates that arable land correlates strongly with country size and climate, not development level.
This metric counts arable land by definition but doesn't measure soil quality, water availability, or agricultural productivity. A hectare in the Indus Valley may produce more food than a hectare in Russia's marginal lands. Temporary fallows are included, which inflate figures in subsistence farming systems. Double-cropping and irrigated land aren't distinguished from rain-fed land in the headline figure. Additionally, the definition excludes permanent pastures and forests, so countries with large grazing areas or planted forestry may appear to have less arable potential than they actually do. Some data relies on satellite estimates rather than cadastral surveys, introducing measurement uncertainty in remote regions. Finally, arable land figures don't account for urban encroachment, which is gradually reducing usable land in developing nations.
Methodology
Arable land is measured in hectares by the FAO and World Bank as land under temporary crops (including double-cropped areas counted once), temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, market gardens, and temporarily fallow land. The definition excludes shifting cultivation abandoned land, forests, and permanent pastures. Data comes from the World Bank's World Development Indicators (indicator: AG.LND.ARBL.HA) sourced from FAO agricultural statistics. All 206 countries reported 2023 data. The mean arable land is 6.7 million hectares with a standard deviation of 20 million hectares, reflecting extreme global variation. Forty statistical outliers were detected, primarily India, USA, Russia, and China—countries whose arable land vastly exceeds the global average. Year-over-year volatility averages 1.7%, indicating arable land is stable across decades.