Data for 1988

Arable Land per Person, 1988

Name: Arable Land per Person, 1988
Creator: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
License: https://www.fao.org/contact-us/terms/db-terms-of-use/en/

1988, as FAO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Arable Land per Person, 1988 covers 172 countries. Canada is highest, at 1.54798; Singapore is lowest, at 0.00070. The middle country reads 0.17549. Against 1987, 172 values changed (30 up, 142 down), the same countries are covered.

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Arable Land per Person · Data for 1988

HighestCanada

1.54798

LowestSingapore

0.00070

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

172countries
1measure
1988the 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, 1988, 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, 1988: every country, as published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
derived
1	Canada`CAN`Northern America	1.54798
2	Niger`NER`Western Africa	1.21751
3	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	1.09701
4	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.82966
5	United States`USA`Northern America	0.75968
6	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.68903
7	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.68644
8	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.65741
9	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.58546
10	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.56936
11	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.55592
12	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.54559
13	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.54056
14	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.53134
15	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.50646
16	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.49907
17	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.47657
18	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.45977
19	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.45414
20	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.45240
21	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.43834
22	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.42755
23	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.42499
24	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.42475
25	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.41775
26	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.41559
27	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.40841
28	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.40181
29	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.38240
30	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.37598
31	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.36818
32	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.36335
33	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.34782
34	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.34463
35	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.33995
36	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.33468
37	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.33105
38	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.32975
39	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.32744
40	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.32412
41	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.32398
42	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.32223
43	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.31675
44	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.31345
45	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.30926
46	Isle of Man`IMN`Northern Europe	0.30744
47	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.30429
48	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.30397
49	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.30357
50	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.30115
51	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.29453
52	Belize`BLZ`Central America	0.28542
53	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.28525
54	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.28290
55	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.27618
56	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.27519
57	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.26700
58	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.26171
59	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.25315
60	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.24746
61	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.24717
62	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.24562
63	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.24415
64	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.23783
65	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.23748
66	Chile`CHL`South America	0.23532
67	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.23240
68	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.22860
69	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.22245
70	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.22131
71	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.21463
72	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.20668
73	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.20512
74	British Virgin Islands`VGB`Caribbean	0.20436
75	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.20401
76	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.19686
77	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.19521
78	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.19487
79	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.19485
80	Saint Kitts and Nevis`KNA`Caribbean	0.19483
81	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.19398
82	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.19221
83	Peru`PER`South America	0.18972
84	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.18776
85	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.18453
86	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.17764
87	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.17334
88	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.16411
89	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.16347
90	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.16232
91	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	0.16167
92	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.15819
93	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.15414
94	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.15290
95	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.15237
96	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.14455
97	Liechtenstein`LIE`Western Europe	0.14312
98	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.14209
99	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.14171
100	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.14111
101	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.13685
102	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.13495
103	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.12542
104	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.12411
105	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.12352
106	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.12184
107	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.12096
108	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.11962
109	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.11946
110	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.11857
111	Colombia`COL`South America	0.11689
112	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.11391
113	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.11145
114	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.11040
115	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.10975
116	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.10700
117	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	0.10692
118	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.10393
119	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.09646
120	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.09586
121	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.09434
122	Turks and Caicos Islands`TCA`Caribbean	0.09281
123	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.09106
124	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.08895
125	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.08688
126	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.07632
127	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	0.07081
128	Antigua and Barbuda`ATG`Caribbean	0.06287
129	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.06207
130	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.06123
131	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.06101
132	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.05466
133	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.05428
134	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.05384
135	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	0.05341
136	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.05065
137	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.04902
138	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.04751
139	San Marino`SMR`Southern Europe	0.04378
140	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.04186
141	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	0.03962
142	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.03921
143	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.03455
144	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.03412
145	Aruba`ABW`Caribbean	0.03371
146	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.03213
147	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	0.02982
148	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.02927
149	Kiribati`KIR`Micronesia	0.02800
150	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	0.02627
151	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	0.02222
152	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	0.02217
153	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.02188
154	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.02077
155	Grenada`GRD`Caribbean	0.02034
156	Andorra`AND`Southern Europe	0.02024
157	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.01724
158	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.01710
159	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	0.01660
160	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	0.01506
161	American Samoa`ASM`Polynesia	0.01467
162	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.01454
163	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.01423
164	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	0.01025
165	Cayman Islands`CYM`Caribbean	0.00835
166	Bermuda`BMU`Northern America	0.00529
167	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.00417
168	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.00206
169	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.00187
170	Faroe Islands`FRO`Northern Europe	0.00135
171	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.00124
172	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.00070

02In 1988

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Canada1.54798
2Niger1.21751
3Australia1.09701
4Argentina0.82966
5United States0.75968

Lowest

172Singapore0.00070
171Hong Kong0.00124
170Faroe Islands0.00135
169Kuwait0.00187
168Djibouti0.00206

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 0.17549. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031987 → 1988

Since 1987

What changed between 1987 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
172values changed, of 172 in both
30 · 142rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

Cambodia0.45746 → 0.50646+0.04900
Fiji0.17321 → 0.18453+0.01132
Gambia0.19762 → 0.20512+0.00750
Eswatini0.21471 → 0.22131+0.00659
Mauritania0.18857 → 0.19398+0.00541

Fell most

Australia1.20512 → 1.09701−0.10811
Niger1.25669 → 1.21751−0.03917
Syria0.43727 → 0.40841−0.02886
Canada1.57018 → 1.54798−0.02221
Pakistan0.29725 → 0.27519−0.02206

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 1988.
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-1988-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) (1988). Arable Land per Person, 1988 [data set], describing 1988. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/arable-land-per-person/1988

0663 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Arable Land per Person, 1987
172 countries
The year after ›
Arable Land per Person, 1989
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