Data for 1981

Arable Land per Person, 1981

Name: Arable Land per Person, 1981
Creator: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
License: https://www.fao.org/contact-us/terms/db-terms-of-use/en/

1981, as FAO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Arable Land per Person, 1981 covers 172 countries. Canada is highest, at 1.634897; Singapore is lowest, at 0.000790. The middle country reads 0.184954. Against 1980, 172 values changed (28 up, 144 down), the same countries are covered.

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Arable Land per Person · Data for 1981

HighestCanada

1.634897

LowestSingapore

0.000790

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

172countries
1measure
1981the year it describes
172distinct values18 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, 1981, 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, 1981: every country, as published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
derived
1	Canada`CAN`Northern America	1.634897
2	Niger`NER`Western Africa	1.545712
3	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	1.221315
4	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.895483
5	United States`USA`Northern America	0.822584
6	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.754518
7	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.695410
8	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.693437
9	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.677215
10	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.670343
11	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.662613
12	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.659950
13	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.576369
14	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.569643
15	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.554882
16	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.550137
17	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.532733
18	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.520246
19	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.514881
20	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.490150
21	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.485436
22	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.469667
23	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.469054
24	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.468068
25	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.440611
26	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.430092
27	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.420152
28	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.415466
29	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.412330
30	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.404353
31	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.404250
32	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.404177
33	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.399112
34	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.391277
35	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.385499
36	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.384781
37	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.381319
38	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.378872
39	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.378466
40	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.374829
41	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.363161
42	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.361883
43	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.358207
44	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.355267
45	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.349989
46	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.343781
47	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.343727
48	Isle of Man`IMN`Northern Europe	0.340578
49	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.336271
50	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.322701
51	Chile`CHL`South America	0.319641
52	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.315197
53	Belize`BLZ`Central America	0.309169
54	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.306915
55	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.305069
56	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.304590
57	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.303914
58	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.302155
59	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.300637
60	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.290285
61	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.288316
62	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.283678
63	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.275891
64	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.262601
65	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.261674
66	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.255457
67	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.252418
68	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.245448
69	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.244884
70	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.241814
71	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.231686
72	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.231509
73	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.230232
74	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.228895
75	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.219515
76	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.217248
77	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.215696
78	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.205791
79	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.204658
80	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.203679
81	Peru`PER`South America	0.203497
82	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.201234
83	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.190773
84	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	0.187362
85	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.187114
86	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.186726
87	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.183183
88	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.180196
89	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.178743
90	British Virgin Islands`VGB`Caribbean	0.174231
91	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.167535
92	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.165306
93	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	0.163417
94	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.160678
95	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.160257
96	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	0.155806
97	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.154702
98	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.153808
99	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.153097
100	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.151627
101	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.151402
102	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.144493
103	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.143697
104	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.140215
105	Colombia`COL`South America	0.139556
106	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.138428
107	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.136275
108	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.136271
109	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.132964
110	Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	0.126454
111	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.124961
112	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.123505
113	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.122706
114	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.122608
115	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.115908
116	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.115241
117	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.115198
118	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.114526
119	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.112895
120	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.109978
121	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.105857
122	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.101993
123	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.100871
124	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.097386
125	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	0.096573
126	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	0.095909
127	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.082154
128	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	0.077322
129	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.077153
130	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.069791
131	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.063424
132	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.062103
133	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.060535
134	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.059366
135	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.059357
136	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.058300
137	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.053800
138	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.052966
139	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.051099
140	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	0.050074
141	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.048671
142	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	0.047586
143	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	0.046223
144	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.045810
145	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	0.045788
146	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.041314
147	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.037620
148	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	0.035489
149	Aruba`ABW`Caribbean	0.033023
150	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	0.032195
151	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	0.031897
152	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	0.029584
153	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	0.026904
154	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.021753
155	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	0.020971
156	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	0.020836
157	American Samoa`ASM`Polynesia	0.019057
158	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	0.017714
159	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.017696
160	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.017275
161	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.017033
162	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.015616
163	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	0.012383
164	Cayman Islands`CYM`Caribbean	0.011170
165	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.009939
166	Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	0.005556
167	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.005354
168	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.002915
169	Faroe Islands`FRO`Northern Europe	0.001467
170	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.001350
171	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.001263
172	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.000790

02In 1981

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Canada1.634897
2Niger1.545712
3Australia1.221315
4Argentina0.895483
5United States0.822584

Lowest

172Singapore0.000790
171Kuwait0.001263
170Hong Kong0.001350
169Faroe Islands0.001467
168Djibouti0.002915

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 0.184954. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031980 → 1981

Since 1980

What changed between 1980 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
172values changed, of 172 in both
28 · 144rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

Afghanistan0.600639 → 0.662613+0.061974
Paraguay0.530585 → 0.554882+0.024297
Gambia0.222716 → 0.244884+0.022168
Nicaragua0.328988 → 0.343727+0.014740
Australia1.210591 → 1.221315+0.010724

Fell most

Niger1.664284 → 1.545712−0.118572
Eswatini0.306716 → 0.217248−0.089468
Pakistan0.390201 → 0.363161−0.027039
Libya0.511918 → 0.485436−0.026482
Cameroon0.694296 → 0.670343−0.023953

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 1981.
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-1981-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) (1981). Arable Land per Person, 1981 [data set], describing 1981. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/arable-land-per-person/1981

0663 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Arable Land per Person, 1980
172 countries
The year after ›
Arable Land per Person, 1982
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