Data for 1972

Arable Land per Person, 1972

Name: Arable Land per Person, 1972
Creator: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
License: https://www.fao.org/contact-us/terms/db-terms-of-use/en/

1972, as FAO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Arable Land per Person, 1972 covers 172 countries. Niger is highest, at 2.27795; Kuwait is lowest, at 0.00109. The middle country reads 0.21584. Against 1971, 172 values changed (27 up, 145 down), the same countries are covered.

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Arable Land per Person · Data for 1972

HighestNiger

2.27795

LowestKuwait

0.00109

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end.

172countries
1measure
1972the year it describes
172distinct values17 decimals, as published
Sep 6, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Arable Land per Person, 1972, as published. FAO ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 172 countries · select a heading to sort

Arable Land per Person, 1972: every country, as published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
derived
1	Niger`NER`Western Africa	2.27795
2	Canada`CAN`Northern America	1.74134
3	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	1.29369
4	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.98826
5	United States`USA`Northern America	0.89351
6	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.83665
7	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.81968
8	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.81054
9	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.80066
10	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.78814
11	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.77715
12	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.74411
13	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.68099
14	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.66730
15	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.66544
16	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.64427
17	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.63511
18	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.61833
19	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.61064
20	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.59853
21	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.58813
22	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.56774
23	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.53109
24	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.53079
25	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.52479
26	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.51941
27	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.51660
28	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.49786
29	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.48345
30	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.48133
31	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.47938
32	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.47717
33	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.47069
34	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.47018
35	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.46969
36	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.46816
37	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.46743
38	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.45124
39	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.44906
40	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.44780
41	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.43168
42	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.41765
43	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.41030
44	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.40411
45	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.39906
46	Chile`CHL`South America	0.39333
47	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.37268
48	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.37125
49	Isle of Man`IMN`Northern Europe	0.36606
50	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.36068
51	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.35367
52	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.35071
53	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.34982
54	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.34666
55	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.34035
56	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.33582
57	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.33307
58	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.32730
59	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.32448
60	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.32210
61	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.32208
62	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.32202
63	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.32149
64	Belize`BLZ`Central America	0.32083
65	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.30587
66	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.30407
67	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.29543
68	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.28935
69	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.28674
70	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.28606
71	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.28539
72	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.28172
73	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.28079
74	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.27005
75	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.26971
76	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.26574
77	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.26497
78	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.24993
79	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.24985
80	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.24848
81	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.24771
82	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.24074
83	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.24014
84	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.24002
85	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.23725
86	Peru`PER`South America	0.22118
87	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.21049
88	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.20456
89	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.20163
90	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.19708
91	British Virgin Islands`VGB`Caribbean	0.19541
92	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	0.19461
93	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.18272
94	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	0.18168
95	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	0.18073
96	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.18029
97	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.18012
98	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.17272
99	Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	0.16906
100	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.16784
101	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.16739
102	Colombia`COL`South America	0.16444
103	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.16382
104	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.15954
105	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.15821
106	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.15255
107	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.14714
108	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.14704
109	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.14568
110	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.13963
111	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.13458
112	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.13297
113	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.13203
114	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.13010
115	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.12941
116	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.12778
117	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.12748
118	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.12716
119	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.12711
120	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.12686
121	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.11926
122	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.11736
123	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.11414
124	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.10324
125	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.10017
126	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	0.09991
127	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.09563
128	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.09432
129	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	0.08994
130	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.08304
131	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	0.07738
132	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.07516
133	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.07507
134	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	0.06551
135	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.06417
136	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.06409
137	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.06280
138	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	0.06136
139	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.06078
140	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.05912
141	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	0.05837
142	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.05798
143	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.05406
144	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	0.05323
145	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.04718
146	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	0.04717
147	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	0.04356
148	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.04337
149	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.04298
150	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	0.04082
151	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	0.04050
152	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	0.03570
153	Aruba`ABW`Caribbean	0.03445
154	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	0.03346
155	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.03283
156	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	0.02813
157	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.02291
158	American Samoa`ASM`Polynesia	0.02286
159	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	0.02159
160	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.01818
161	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.01785
162	Cayman Islands`CYM`Caribbean	0.01700
163	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	0.01641
164	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.01234
165	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.00826
166	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.00683
167	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.00601
168	Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	0.00568
169	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.00267
170	Faroe Islands`FRO`Northern Europe	0.00163
171	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.00139
172	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.00109

02In 1972

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Niger2.27795
2Canada1.74134
3Australia1.29369
4Argentina0.98826
5United States0.89351

Lowest

172Kuwait0.00109
171Singapore0.00139
170Faroe Islands0.00163
169Hong Kong0.00267
168Bermuda0.00568

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 0.21584. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031971 → 1972

Since 1971

What changed between 1971 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
172values changed, of 172 in both
27 · 145rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

Peru0.18485 → 0.22118+0.03633
Cuba0.25359 → 0.28606+0.03247
Eswatini0.32879 → 0.36068+0.03189
Rwanda0.13658 → 0.14714+0.01056
Zimbabwe0.27149 → 0.28172+0.01023

Fell most

Niger2.35039 → 2.27795−0.07244
Haiti0.19055 → 0.15954−0.03101
Libya0.80333 → 0.77715−0.02618
Namibia0.83527 → 0.81054−0.02473
Togo0.81087 → 0.78814−0.02274

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from FAO’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 1972.
The position is ours
FAO publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 172 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
172 rows · 7.0 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download arable-land-per-person-1972-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
FAO’s own file, on its own site.
AG.LND.ARBL.HA.PC

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (1972). Arable Land per Person, 1972 [data set], describing 1972. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/arable-land-per-person/1972

0663 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Arable Land per Person, 1971
172 countries
The year after ›
Arable Land per Person, 1973
172 countries
All of them
Arable Land per Person: every year
63 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions