Data for 1986

Arable Land per Person, 1986

Name: Arable Land per Person, 1986
Creator: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
License: https://www.fao.org/contact-us/terms/db-terms-of-use/en/

1986, as FAO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Arable Land per Person, 1986 covers 172 countries. Canada is highest, at 1.593048; Singapore is lowest, at 0.000732. The middle country reads 0.171988. Against 1985, 172 values changed (32 up, 140 down), the same countries are covered.

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Arable Land per Person · Data for 1986

HighestCanada

1.593048

LowestSingapore

0.000732

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

172countries
1measure
1986the 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, 1986, 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, 1986: every country, as published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
derived
1	Canada`CAN`Northern America	1.593048
2	Niger`NER`Western Africa	1.331823
3	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	1.290832
4	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.847690
5	United States`USA`Northern America	0.781921
6	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.709877
7	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.692640
8	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.662620
9	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.606734
10	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.605591
11	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.589443
12	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.583513
13	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.555144
14	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.539946
15	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.506588
16	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.476466
17	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.474387
18	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.474296
19	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.459441
20	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.455609
21	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.451718
22	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.446806
23	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.438108
24	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.431278
25	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.426315
26	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.413638
27	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.410445
28	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.403399
29	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.398668
30	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.386948
31	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.386692
32	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.381738
33	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.374406
34	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.352067
35	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.350666
36	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.348254
37	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.348002
38	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.346960
39	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.344043
40	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.340076
41	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.326611
42	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.326148
43	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.323257
44	Isle of Man`IMN`Northern Europe	0.323054
45	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.321547
46	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.317251
47	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.315998
48	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.314385
49	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.313632
50	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.312911
51	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.306302
52	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.296634
53	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.295187
54	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.294483
55	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.288847
56	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.286012
57	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.276547
58	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.274085
59	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.271929
60	Chile`CHL`South America	0.266425
61	Belize`BLZ`Central America	0.262602
62	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.257163
63	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.250576
64	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.248676
65	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.247571
66	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.239523
67	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.238651
68	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.238519
69	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.230785
70	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.227949
71	British Virgin Islands`VGB`Caribbean	0.218563
72	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.209600
73	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.208766
74	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.208274
75	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.207566
76	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.206666
77	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.206150
78	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.197982
79	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.194863
80	Peru`PER`South America	0.193274
81	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	0.192225
82	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.190098
83	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.182666
84	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.181307
85	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.172255
86	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.172120
87	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.171856
88	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.168940
89	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.168133
90	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.163592
91	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	0.163249
92	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.162778
93	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.162314
94	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.161074
95	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.160541
96	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.153885
97	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.149566
98	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	0.146854
99	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.145381
100	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.143240
101	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.141406
102	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.138877
103	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.137639
104	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.131622
105	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.129057
106	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.128742
107	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.127681
108	Colombia`COL`South America	0.127346
109	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.124041
110	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.123493
111	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.122439
112	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.118572
113	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.115284
114	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.114762
115	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.112956
116	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.107859
117	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	0.104154
118	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.104151
119	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.101164
120	Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	0.100594
121	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.097242
122	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.095330
123	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.095124
124	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.092299
125	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.089258
126	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	0.084027
127	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.078623
128	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.062349
129	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	0.062232
130	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.062129
131	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.060599
132	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.060251
133	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.056781
134	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	0.055249
135	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.055050
136	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.052042
137	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.049738
138	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.048625
139	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.044545
140	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.044401
141	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	0.044177
142	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.039677
143	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	0.039666
144	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.037062
145	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	0.036603
146	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.035075
147	Aruba`ABW`Caribbean	0.033372
148	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	0.030995
149	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	0.029386
150	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.029091
151	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	0.027181
152	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	0.025145
153	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.022640
154	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	0.021866
155	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.020919
156	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.019763
157	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	0.018771
158	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.017994
159	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	0.017660
160	American Samoa`ASM`Polynesia	0.015775
161	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	0.015752
162	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.015233
163	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.015232
164	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	0.010772
165	Cayman Islands`CYM`Caribbean	0.009010
166	Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	0.005368
167	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.004481
168	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.002346
169	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.002028
170	Faroe Islands`FRO`Northern Europe	0.001387
171	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.001267
172	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.000732

02In 1986

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Canada1.593048
2Niger1.331823
3Australia1.290832
4Argentina0.847690
5United States0.781921

Lowest

172Singapore0.000732
171Hong Kong0.001267
170Faroe Islands0.001387
169Kuwait0.002028
168Djibouti0.002346

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 0.171988. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031985 → 1986

Since 1985

What changed between 1985 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
172values changed, of 172 in both
32 · 140rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

Cambodia0.380556 → 0.413638+0.033081
Mauritania0.176252 → 0.182666+0.006413
Cuba0.311896 → 0.317251+0.005355
Venezuela0.167054 → 0.172120+0.005066
Indonesia0.114522 → 0.118572+0.004050

Fell most

Guinea-Bissau0.323049 → 0.274085−0.048964
Mongolia0.704132 → 0.662620−0.041513
Niger1.372488 → 1.331823−0.040666
Australia1.327754 → 1.290832−0.036922
Pakistan0.322816 → 0.296634−0.026182

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 1986.
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-1986-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) (1986). Arable Land per Person, 1986 [data set], describing 1986. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/arable-land-per-person/1986

0663 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Arable Land per Person, 1985
172 countries
The year after ›
Arable Land per Person, 1987
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