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Data for 2023

Cropland Nitrogen Balance, 2023

2023, as FAO’s 2025 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

This is how much more nitrogen goes onto a country's cropland each year — as fertiliser, manure, fixation by crops and deposition from the air — than leaves it in the harvest, per hectare. The surplus is the nitrogen that ends up in rivers, groundwater and the air; a deficit means the soil itself is being drawn down.

Cropland Nitrogen Balance, 2023 covers 187 countries on 5 measures. Singapore is highest, at 1,198.829; Micronesia is lowest, at -555.524. The middle country reads 37.634. Against 2022, 187 values changed (117 up, 70 down), the same countries are covered.

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Cropland Nitrogen Balance · Data for 2023

HighestSingapore

1,198.829

LowestMicronesia

-555.524

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

01Values only

The table

Every country and every column of Cropland Nitrogen Balance, 2023, as published. The file carries values only, so no position is shown. “=” marks a shared position.

Showing 25 of 187 countries · select a heading to sort

Cropland Nitrogen Balance, 2023: every country, as published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia1,198.8291,361.290162.46111.9344791
Hong KongHKGEastern Asia595.921655.41459.4929.07711,788
KuwaitKWTWestern Asia583.504690.805107.30015.53268,169
BruneiBRNSouth-eastern Asia476.539489.56913.0292.66144,765
MontenegroMNESouthern Europe366.654401.37434.7208.65035,258
TurkmenistanTKMCentral Asia316.593362.43845.84512.6492516,470
Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean275.808292.97617.1695.860112,963
BelgiumBELWestern Europe224.737319.80395.06629.7264199,198
DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa210.497395.456184.95946.7710821
QatarQATWestern Asia204.721227.44922.7289.99244,913
BarbadosBRBCaribbean201.708255.05153.34420.91481,614
SurinameSURSouth America191.967248.07956.11222.618610,641
IrelandIRLNorthern Europe187.387284.16396.77634.056682,638
South KoreaKOREastern Asia186.663268.46181.79830.4692282,235
EgyptEGYNorthern Africa185.693338.241152.54845.1005753,541
UzbekistanUZBCentral Asia177.996275.13297.13735.3054795,285
TaiwanTWNEastern Asia176.958245.47068.51227.9106137,850
MongoliaMNGEastern Asia176.314187.32611.0125.8787202,579
BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia168.076281.387113.31240.26891,478,897
MaltaMLTSouthern Europe161.748181.31119.56310.78961,341
Costa RicaCRICentral America161.149229.63368.48429.823387,721
NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe157.657232.37974.72232.1551164,752
NorwayNORNorthern Europe157.132178.43221.29911.9368126,649
SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe152.709211.62658.91727.840264,402
ChinaCHNEastern Asia152.056288.637136.58047.319119,399,358

02In 2023

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline, then the highest and lowest on each other measure.

Highest

  1. Singapore1,198.829
  2. Hong Kong595.921
  3. Kuwait583.504
  4. Brunei476.539
  5. Montenegro366.654

Lowest

  1. Micronesia-555.524
  2. Kiribati-75.380
  3. Eswatini-51.454
  4. Nauru-42.246
  5. Vanuatu-36.244

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 37.634. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

  • Nitrogen inputs (kg per hectare)

    HighestSingapore1,361.290

    LowestVanuatu9.796

    Middle country: 85.858

  • Nitrogen removed in harvests (kg per hectare)

    HighestMicronesia762.680

    LowestIceland1.415

    Middle country: 41.560

  • Nitrogen use efficiency (%)

    HighestKiribati732.4760

    LowestIceland1.5999

    Middle country: 51.3704

  • Nitrogen balance, whole country (tonnes)

    HighestChina19,399,358

    LowestGhana-60,193

    Middle country: 41,839

032022 → 2023

Since 2022

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 187values changed, of 187 in both
  • 117 · 70rose · fell
  • 0unchanged

Rose most

Fell most

04Caveats

Read before you use

How values are stored

  • One year of the 2025 release

    Every year in this series comes from FAO’s 2025 release, recalculated on one method, so a change from one year to the next is not a revision. It can differ from what was first published for 2023.

  • Nothing missing

    Every one of the 187 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

Licence in full

What this site changed: Reshaped to one row per country, with its ISO code; no value recalculated, rescaled or rounded. In full

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

Cite this edition

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2023). Cropland Nitrogen Balance, 2023 [data set], describing 2023. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/cropland-nitrogen-balance/2023

0663 held

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