Independent rankings built from public data — every figure traceable to the body that published it.

Photo: © User:Colin / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale
Topic 13 of 18 · Country Index 2026
What does a country grow, and what does it take to grow it?
United Kingdom is placed 10th of 175 countries on food & agriculture in the Country Index 2026, from 4 of its 4 key statistics. Readings behind it: Cereal Yield 7,138 (2023); Organic Agricultural Area 2.87 (2024).
Food & Agriculture
10th
of 175 countries placed
Placed from 4 of 4 key statistics
01The evidence
Only these place United Kingdom on food & agriculture — one vote each. Every value is the publisher’s own, read at the edition the Country Index 2026 used; the grey ticks are every other country it was compared with, lowest on the left.
Key 1 of 4
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Why it is a key: How much food a hectare of land produces: the clearest single measure of how productively a country farms.
2023 edition · data for 2023 · CC BY 4.0
7,138
Cereal yield (kg per hectare)
Higher is better
United Kingdom: 7,138. Across the 179 countries in this edition, values run from 23 (Cabo Verde) to 29,147 (Oman); the world median is 3,072.
Each grey tick is one of 179 countries in the 2023 edition.
Key 2 of 4
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Why it is a key: Farmland managed without synthetic fertiliser or pesticide — how a country farms, set beside how much it grows.
2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 4.0
2.87
Organic share of agricultural land (%)
Higher is better
United Kingdom: 2.87. Across the 156 countries in this edition, values run from 0 (Afghanistan) to 86.38 (Samoa); the world median is 0.725.
Each grey tick is one of 156 countries in the 2024 edition.
Key 3 of 4
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Why it is a key: Whether the food a country produces and imports covers what its population needs to eat, measured before anyone has eaten it.
2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 4.0
3,430
Dietary energy supply (kcal per person per day)
Higher is better
United Kingdom: 3,430. Across the 155 countries in this edition, values run from 1,757 (Somalia) to 3,962 (United States); the world median is 2,982.
Each grey tick is one of 155 countries in the 2024 edition.
Key 4 of 4
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Why it is a key: How much public spending agriculture attracts set against the share of the economy it produces — whether a state invests in its farms or lives off them.
2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 4.0
0.99
Agriculture orientation index (1.0 = spending matches sector size)
Higher is better
United Kingdom: 0.99. Across the 132 countries in this edition, values run from 0.03 (Ghana) to 5.38 (Singapore); the world median is 0.305.
Each grey tick is one of 132 countries in the 2024 edition.
02Over time
Each key’s published value, edition by edition, beside the world median. The Country Index 2026 is the first edition of the standing, so the standing itself has no history to chart yet.
Cereal yield (kg per hectare) · higher is better
United KingdomWorld median
United Kingdom fell from 7,165 in 2000 to 7,138 in 2023; the world median went from 2,170 to 3,072.
| Year | United Kingdom | World median |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 7,137.9 | 3,072 |
| 2022 | 7,720.1 | 3,217 |
| 2021 | 6,966.8 | 3,003 |
| 2020 | 6,241.0 | 3,260 |
| 2019 | 7,946.0 | 3,106 |
| 2018 | 6,788.7 | 2,883 |
| 2017 | 7,229.0 | 2,984 |
| 2016 | 7,022.6 | 3,043 |
| 2015 | 7,980.9 | 3,000 |
| 2014 | 7,696.5 | 3,001 |
| 2013 | 6,631.6 | 2,970 |
| 2012 | 6,215.1 | 2,782 |
| 2011 | 6,984.7 | 2,754 |
| 2010 | 6,953.0 | 2,647 |
| 2009 | 7,029.6 | 2,653 |
| 2008 | 7,420.2 | 2,664 |
| 2007 | 6,632.3 | 2,553 |
| 2006 | 7,278.6 | 2,514 |
| 2005 | 7,196.5 | 2,512 |
| 2004 | 7,031.8 | 2,428 |
| 2003 | 7,032.8 | 2,331 |
| 2002 | 7,076.9 | 2,378 |
| 2001 | 6,291.1 | 2,199 |
| 2000 | 7,164.8 | 2,170 |
Organic share of agricultural land (%) · higher is better
United KingdomWorld median
United Kingdom fell from 3.57 in 2005 to 2.87 in 2024; the world median went from 0.345 to 0.725.
| Year | United Kingdom | World median |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2.87 | 0.725 |
| 2023 | 2.80 | 0.780 |
| 2022 | 2.80 | 0.740 |
| 2021 | 2.82 | 0.710 |
| 2020 | 2.72 | 0.665 |
| 2019 | 2.66 | 0.550 |
| 2018 | 2.67 | 0.490 |
| 2017 | 2.88 | 0.630 |
| 2016 | 2.85 | 0.545 |
| 2015 | 2.97 | 0.540 |
| 2014 | 3.12 | 0.470 |
| 2013 | 3.23 | 0.440 |
| 2012 | 3.42 | 0.480 |
| 2011 | 3.71 | 0.460 |
| 2010 | 4.05 | 0.330 |
| 2009 | 4.16 | 0.335 |
| 2008 | 4.07 | 0.290 |
| 2007 | 3.74 | 0.370 |
| 2006 | 3.38 | 0.305 |
| 2005 | 3.57 | 0.345 |
Dietary energy supply (kcal per person per day) · higher is better
United KingdomWorld median
United Kingdom rose from 3,420 in 2001 to 3,430 in 2024; the world median went from 2,628 to 2,982.
| Year | United Kingdom | World median |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 3,430 | 2,982.0 |
| 2023 | 3,401 | 2,969.0 |
| 2022 | 3,366 | 2,962.5 |
| 2021 | 3,339 | 2,967.0 |
| 2020 | 3,345 | 2,934.0 |
| 2019 | 3,345 | 2,912.5 |
| 2018 | 3,350 | 2,893.0 |
| 2017 | 3,346 | 2,886.0 |
| 2016 | 3,360 | 2,863.0 |
| 2015 | 3,354 | 2,835.0 |
| 2014 | 3,349 | 2,844.0 |
| 2013 | 3,329 | 2,856.0 |
| 2012 | 3,318 | 2,838.0 |
| 2011 | 3,310 | 2,827.5 |
| 2010 | 3,334 | 2,808.0 |
| 2009 | 3,362 | 2,818.0 |
| 2008 | 3,401 | 2,811.0 |
| 2007 | 3,426 | 2,810.5 |
| 2006 | 3,445 | 2,772.0 |
| 2005 | 3,464 | 2,740.5 |
| 2004 | 3,457 | 2,712.5 |
| 2003 | 3,451 | 2,685.0 |
| 2002 | 3,435 | 2,667.0 |
| 2001 | 3,420 | 2,628.0 |
Agriculture orientation index (1.0 = spending matches sector size) · higher is better
United KingdomWorld median
United Kingdom fell from 1.14 in 2001 to 0.99 in 2024; the world median went from 0.36 to 0.305.
| Year | United Kingdom | World median |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 0.99 | 0.305 |
| 2023 | 0.97 | 0.305 |
| 2022 | 0.84 | 0.290 |
| 2021 | 0.77 | 0.260 |
| 2020 | 0.71 | 0.255 |
| 2019 | 0.47 | 0.265 |
| 2018 | 0.48 | 0.270 |
| 2017 | 0.48 | 0.260 |
| 2016 | 0.49 | 0.285 |
| 2015 | 0.46 | 0.305 |
| 2014 | 0.41 | 0.300 |
| 2013 | 0.49 | 0.285 |
| 2012 | 0.51 | 0.330 |
| 2011 | 0.55 | 0.290 |
| 2010 | 0.62 | 0.320 |
| 2009 | 0.53 | 0.370 |
| 2008 | 0.56 | 0.390 |
| 2007 | 0.84 | 0.410 |
| 2006 | 0.92 | 0.355 |
| 2005 | 1.03 | 0.325 |
| 2004 | 0.72 | 0.320 |
| 2003 | 0.59 | 0.320 |
| 2002 | 0.57 | 0.340 |
| 2001 | 1.14 | 0.360 |
03In context
A position reads best beside the countries around it. Every position below is a place among all 175 countries on food & agriculture, never a place within the region.
The standing is each country’s place among all 175 placed on the topic; the other columns are the publishers’ own values, read at the edition the standing used.
| Country | Standing | Cereal YieldCereal yield (kg per hectare) | Organic Agricultural AreaOrganic share of agricultural land (%) | Dietary Energy SupplyDietary energy supply (kcal per person per day) | Agriculture Orientation IndexAgriculture orientation index (1.0 = spending matches sector size) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd | 7,063 | 4.94 | 3,923 | 1.04 | |
| 10th | 7,138 | 2.87 | 3,430 | 0.99 |
“—” means the publisher gives no reading for that country in that edition. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed.
Every country in the sub-region, by its place among all 175.
The countries immediately above and below United Kingdom in the topic’s list.
04Context, no vote
17 more statistics filed under food & agriculture, published in full and deliberately given no vote in the standing. Select a row for the publisher, the rank and the links.
Statistics on which United Kingdom does better than the middle country measured.
United Kingdom: 2.5 · world median 5.2 · Population undernourished (%). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 2.5 to 54.2; lower is better.
Position 104th of 104 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
United Kingdom: 3.3 · world median 4.7 · Population in severe food insecurity (%). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 63.1; lower is better.
Position 81st of 127 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Statistics on which United Kingdom does worse than the middle country measured.
United Kingdom: 105.24 · world median 107.06 · Livestock production index (2014–2016 = 100). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from 35.52 to 190.08; higher is better.
Position 105th of 194 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
United Kingdom: 101.24 · world median 106.08 · Food production index (2014–2016 = 100). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from 71.08 to 177.49; higher is better.
Position 125th of 195 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
United Kingdom: 94.33 · world median 106.23 · Crop production index (2014–2016 = 100). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from 53.79 to 189.93; higher is better.
Position 154th of 195 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
These describe the shape of a country — more is not better or worse, only different — so they are never ahead or behind.
United Kingdom: 70.31 · world median 37.96 · Agricultural land (% of land area). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.445 to 86.48.
Position 20th of 209 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
United Kingdom: 81,626 · world median 8,635 · Farm-gate emissions (kt CO₂eq). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 1,044,508.
Position 21st of 193 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
United Kingdom: 191.44 · world median 87.36 · Fertilizer consumption (kg per hectare of arable land). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 2,926.
Position 43rd of 188 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
United Kingdom: 3,088,787 · world median 689,278 · Land under cereal production (hectares). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 103,715,108.
Position 43rd of 179 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
United Kingdom: 0.89 · world median 0.535 · Livestock units per hectare of agricultural land. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.02 to 43.97.
Position 56th of 188 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
United Kingdom: 2.75 · world median 1.73 · Pesticide use (kg per hectare of cropland). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 37.72.
Position 74th of 178 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
United Kingdom: 0.088 · world median 0.109 · Arable land (hectares per person). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 1.459.
Position 119th of 206 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
United Kingdom: 23.8 · world median 42.8 · Share of the cereal supply that is imported (%). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from -1,894 to 100.
United Kingdom: 14.05 · world median 62.14 · Freshwater withdrawn for agriculture (% of total). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 99.48.
Position 136th of 171 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
United Kingdom: 0.414 · world median 3.66 · Irrigated share of agricultural land (%). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.003 to 89.04.
Position 104th of 121 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
United Kingdom: 0.64 · world median 6.572 · Agriculture, forestry and fishing value added (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 0.025 to 47.59.
Position 151st of 158 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
United Kingdom: 0.851 · world median 14.38 · Employment in agriculture (% of total employment). International Labour Organization (ILO), 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 0.095 to 85.34.
Position 176th of 182 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
No current reading for United Kingdom
Global Report on Food Crises. Listed rather than hidden, so the page can be checked against it.
05Country Index 2026
Food & Agriculture is United Kingdom’s 2nd best-placed topic of 15. Strongest first; each marker sits at the position divided by that topic’s field, so fields of different sizes compare fairly.
No standing on Education & Knowledge: too few of those topics’ key statistics are published for this country.
06The top of the list
The three countries placed highest of 175, and the leaders United Kingdom can most readily be measured against.
1Austria
Western Europe
1st of 175 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: chensiyuan · CC BY-SA 4.0, greyscale
2Ireland
Northern Europe
2nd of 175 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 2.0, greyscale
3Czechia
Eastern Europe
3rd of 175 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: john mcsporran from Trossachs, Scotland · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
Highest in Europe
Highest in Northern Europe
This page
Positions out of 175 placed on the topic. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed, and the top of the list is often held on fewer of them.
07Questions
Every answer is built from the numbers on this page, so none can say something the page does not.
United Kingdom is placed 10th of 175 countries on Food & Agriculture in the Country Index 2026, from 4 of its 4 key statistics (Cereal Yield, Organic Agricultural Area, Dietary Energy Supply and Agriculture Orientation Index). The position is this site’s ordering of published statistics, not a rank any publisher printed.
7,138 in 2023 (cereal yield (kg per hectare)), according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The world median in the same edition was 3,072.
2.87 in 2024 (organic share of agricultural land (%)), according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The world median in the same edition was 0.725.
Ireland is placed 2nd of 175, and United Kingdom 10th. Cereal Yield: Ireland 7,063, United Kingdom 7,138; Organic Agricultural Area: Ireland 4.94, United Kingdom 2.87; Dietary Energy Supply: Ireland 3,923, United Kingdom 3,430; Agriculture Orientation Index: Ireland 1.04, United Kingdom 0.99.
Cereal Yield fell from 7,165 in 2000 to 7,138 in 2023; Organic Agricultural Area fell from 3.57 in 2005 to 2.87 in 2024; Dietary Energy Supply rose from 3,420 in 2001 to 3,430 in 2024; Agriculture Orientation Index fell from 1.14 in 2001 to 0.99 in 2024.
No current reading is published for United Kingdom on Global Report on Food Crises. They are listed rather than hidden, so the evidence on the page can be checked against it.
08Keep reading
09Method
What this topic does not measure
This subject is about production and land use, not about whether people are fed. Hunger, undernourishment and what a population actually eats are measured under Health & Wellbeing, and the two regularly disagree — a country can grow a great deal and still leave many people short, and one that grows little can be well fed by trade. The wider environmental cost of farming — emissions, water withdrawal, forest cover — is filed under Environment & Sustainability.
A standing is a place in a list, not a mark out of anything. This one is part of the Country Index 2026, and it is worked out like this.
The other 17 statistics on this page come from 3 publishers, each named beside its numbers, with every edition and licence on the datasets pages.
The standing itself is part of the Country Index 2026, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.
United Kingdom’s banner and the countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
Nations Inquiry (2026). United Kingdom: Food & Agriculture — standing and statistics, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/united-kingdom/food