Data for 1987

Arable Land per Person, 1987

Name: Arable Land per Person, 1987
Creator: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
License: https://www.fao.org/contact-us/terms/db-terms-of-use/en/

1987, as FAO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Arable Land per Person, 1987 covers 172 countries. Canada is highest, at 1.570183; Singapore is lowest, at 0.000721. The middle country reads 0.174084. Against 1986, 172 values changed (33 up, 139 down), the same countries are covered.

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Arable Land per Person · Data for 1987

HighestCanada

1.570183

LowestSingapore

0.000721

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

172countries
1measure
1987the 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, 1987, 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, 1987: every country, as published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
derived
1	Canada`CAN`Northern America	1.570183
2	Niger`NER`Western Africa	1.256687
3	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	1.205125
4	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.838719
5	United States`USA`Northern America	0.766613
6	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.700596
7	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.694602
8	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.659482
9	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.594535
10	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.584741
11	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.571801
12	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.565122
13	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.549095
14	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.535682
15	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.502826
16	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.475655
17	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.472412
18	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.464391
19	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.462113
20	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.457459
21	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.439227
22	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.438323
23	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.437267
24	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.435863
25	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.426357
26	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.423293
27	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.414246
28	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.402845
29	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.384411
30	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.382542
31	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.378653
32	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.374526
33	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.359172
34	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.354206
35	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.344317
36	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.343661
37	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.341070
38	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.336838
39	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.336225
40	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.332055
41	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.322195
42	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.321985
43	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.317776
44	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.317627
45	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.317238
46	Isle of Man`IMN`Northern Europe	0.315563
47	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.314841
48	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.313398
49	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.309317
50	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.306747
51	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.301532
52	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.297249
53	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.288803
54	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.286983
55	Belize`BLZ`Central America	0.285984
56	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.276247
57	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.275117
58	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.270092
59	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.259249
60	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.258938
61	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.257359
62	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.252136
63	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.246158
64	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.242593
65	Chile`CHL`South America	0.240498
66	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.238085
67	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.234531
68	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.228077
69	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.225794
70	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.221168
71	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.214713
72	British Virgin Islands`VGB`Caribbean	0.211357
73	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.206597
74	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.206345
75	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.201754
76	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.201208
77	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.200373
78	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.197618
79	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	0.193480
80	Peru`PER`South America	0.191492
81	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.191383
82	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.191334
83	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.189977
84	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.188573
85	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.177218
86	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.174958
87	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.173209
88	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.168361
89	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.165247
90	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.164057
91	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	0.162641
92	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.160154
93	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.158367
94	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.156693
95	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.153456
96	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.147635
97	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.145786
98	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	0.145154
99	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.143609
100	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.140835
101	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.139183
102	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.136993
103	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.128268
104	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.126641
105	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.126550
106	Colombia`COL`South America	0.125379
107	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.124750
108	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.124687
109	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.123727
110	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.122091
111	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.122009
112	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.121022
113	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.113088
114	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.111238
115	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.110882
116	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.106353
117	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	0.105570
118	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.102112
119	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.099421
120	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.098524
121	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.096517
122	Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	0.096516
123	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.093195
124	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.089746
125	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.087986
126	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	0.084480
127	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.077592
128	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	0.062553
129	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.062189
130	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.060927
131	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.060917
132	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.055530
133	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.055380
134	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.055062
135	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	0.054331
136	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.051204
137	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.049360
138	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.048220
139	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	0.044080
140	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.042627
141	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	0.039643
142	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.039437
143	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.035501
144	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.034835
145	Aruba`ABW`Caribbean	0.033807
146	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.033177
147	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	0.031000
148	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.028751
149	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	0.028681
150	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	0.026724
151	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.022670
152	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	0.022518
153	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.021985
154	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	0.020985
155	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	0.020507
156	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.018422
157	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	0.018304
158	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.017556
159	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	0.017104
160	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	0.015401
161	American Samoa`ASM`Polynesia	0.015212
162	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.014710
163	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.014599
164	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	0.010501
165	Cayman Islands`CYM`Caribbean	0.008668
166	Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	0.005332
167	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.004321
168	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.002201
169	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.001948
170	Faroe Islands`FRO`Northern Europe	0.001370
171	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.001254
172	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.000721

02In 1987

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Canada1.570183
2Niger1.256687
3Australia1.205125
4Argentina0.838719
5United States0.766613

Lowest

172Singapore0.000721
171Hong Kong0.001254
170Faroe Islands0.001370
169Kuwait0.001948
168Djibouti0.002201

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 0.174084. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031986 → 1987

Since 1986

What changed between 1986 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
172values changed, of 172 in both
33 · 139rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

Cambodia0.413638 → 0.457459+0.043821
Belize0.262602 → 0.285984+0.023383
Lesotho0.172255 → 0.191383+0.019128
Fiji0.162314 → 0.173209+0.010894
Mozambique0.250576 → 0.257359+0.006783

Fell most

Australia1.290832 → 1.205125−0.085707
Niger1.331823 → 1.256687−0.075136
Chile0.266425 → 0.240498−0.025927
Canada1.593048 → 1.570183−0.022865
Chad0.605591 → 0.584741−0.020850

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 1987.
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-1987-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) (1987). Arable Land per Person, 1987 [data set], describing 1987. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/arable-land-per-person/1987

0663 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Arable Land per Person, 1986
172 countries
The year after ›
Arable Land per Person, 1988
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