See more visuals like this on the Voronoi app.
The 50 Countries With the Most Agricultural Land
See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
Key Takeaways
- China has the most agricultural land in the world, with roughly 2.0 million square miles.
- The U.S., Australia, Brazil, and Russia round out the top five.
- Asia and Africa account for a large share of the top 50 countries by agricultural land area.
Agricultural land spans more than 18 million square miles worldwide, forming the foundation of global food production.
This graphic ranks the top 50 countries by agricultural land area, using the most recent FAO data compiled by the World Bank. China leads the world by a wide margin, followed by the United States and Australia.
The ranking highlights where the world’s largest agricultural footprints are located, spanning major producers across Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
Why China Has the World’s Most Agricultural Land
At 2 million square miles, China has more agricultural land than any other country worldwide. Roughly a fifth of the national population works in agriculture, and China today is the world’s largest producer and consumer of agricultural goods.
The data table below features all of the world’s countries and their total square mileage of agricultural land:
| Rank | Country Name | Ag land (sq. mi) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 2,009,326 |
| 2 | United States | 1,627,576 |
| 3 | Australia | 1,402,492 |
| 4 | Brazil | 914,131 |
| 5 | Russian Federation | 832,826 |
| 6 | Kazakhstan | 827,284 |
| 7 | India | 689,466 |
| 8 | Saudi Arabia | 670,418 |
| 9 | Argentina | 448,405 |
| 10 | Sudan | 435,002 |
| 11 | Mongolia | 414,933 |
| 12 | Mexico | 380,486 |
| 13 | South Africa | 371,975 |
| 14 | Nigeria | 267,948 |
| 15 | Canada | 219,596 |
| 16 | Indonesia | 212,828 |
| 17 | Chad | 194,353 |
| 18 | Iran, Islamic Rep. | 181,727 |
| 19 | Niger | 179,918 |
| 20 | Angola | 177,850 |
| 21 | Somalia, Fed. Rep. | 170,384 |
| 22 | Mali | 167,103 |
| 23 | Mozambique | 160,280 |
| 24 | Algeria | 159,633 |
| 25 | Ukraine | 159,503 |
| 26 | Madagascar | 157,896 |
| 27 | Colombia | 156,306 |
| 28 | Mauritania | 153,321 |
| 29 | Turkmenistan | 152,812 |
| 30 | Tanzania | 152,592 |
| 31 | Bolivia | 149,867 |
| 32 | Namibia | 149,854 |
| 33 | Turkiye | 148,989 |
| 34 | Ethiopia | 148,483 |
| 35 | Afghanistan | 147,167 |
| 36 | Pakistan | 138,977 |
| 37 | Congo, Dem. Rep. | 135,505 |
| 38 | Morocco | 115,013 |
| 39 | Kenya | 111,076 |
| 40 | South Sudan | 109,449 |
| 41 | France | 109,256 |
| 42 | Cote d'Ivoire | 106,175 |
| 43 | Botswana | 99,854 |
| 44 | Uzbekistan | 98,773 |
| 45 | Spain | 95,648 |
| 46 | Peru | 94,153 |
| 47 | Zambia | 92,043 |
| 48 | Yemen, Rep. | 90,549 |
| 49 | Thailand | 86,394 |
| 50 | Venezuela, RB | 83,012 |
| 51 | Paraguay | 82,730 |
| 52 | Guinea | 69,475 |
| 53 | United Kingdom | 65,674 |
| 54 | Germany | 64,039 |
| 55 | Zimbabwe | 62,422 |
| 56 | Libya | 59,267 |
| 57 | Burkina Faso | 56,413 |
| 58 | Poland | 56,294 |
| 59 | Uganda | 55,657 |
| 60 | Uruguay | 54,976 |
| 61 | Syrian Arab Republic | 52,533 |
| 62 | Italy | 50,531 |
| 63 | Myanmar | 50,183 |
| 64 | Philippines | 49,122 |
| 65 | Romania | 49,093 |
| 66 | Ghana | 48,663 |
| 67 | Viet Nam | 47,456 |
| 68 | Chile | 41,303 |
| 69 | Congo, Rep. | 41,125 |
| 70 | Kyrgyz Republic | 39,996 |
| 71 | Cameroon | 38,212 |
| 72 | New Zealand | 37,494 |
| 73 | Tunisia | 37,454 |
| 74 | Senegal | 36,722 |
| 75 | Iraq | 36,592 |
| 76 | Bangladesh | 36,290 |
| 77 | Malaysia | 33,093 |
| 78 | Belarus | 31,019 |
| 79 | Eritrea | 29,313 |
| 80 | Cuba | 24,714 |
| 81 | Cambodia | 23,762 |
| 82 | Malawi | 23,359 |
| 83 | Central African Republic | 21,887 |
| 84 | Greece | 20,742 |
| 85 | Ecuador | 20,656 |
| 86 | Nicaragua | 19,656 |
| 87 | Hungary | 19,626 |
| 88 | Bulgaria | 19,317 |
| 89 | Azerbaijan | 18,454 |
| 90 | Benin | 18,211 |
| 91 | Guatemala | 17,807 |
| 92 | Japan | 17,788 |
| 93 | Ireland | 16,174 |
| 94 | Egypt, Arab Rep. | 15,668 |
| 95 | Portugal | 15,328 |
| 96 | Sierra Leone | 15,247 |
| 97 | Tajikistan | 14,976 |
| 98 | Togo | 14,749 |
| 99 | Nepal | 14,456 |
| 100 | Honduras | 13,807 |
| 101 | Czechia | 13,646 |
| 102 | Serbia | 13,112 |
| 103 | Sri Lanka | 11,610 |
| 104 | Sweden | 11,514 |
| 105 | Lithuania | 11,093 |
| 106 | Dominican Republic | 10,301 |
| 107 | Denmark | 10,120 |
| 108 | Austria | 10,028 |
| 109 | Korea, Dem. People's Rep. | 10,021 |
| 110 | Moldova | 9,421 |
| 111 | Georgia | 9,158 |
| 112 | Lesotho | 9,115 |
| 113 | Lao PDR | 8,831 |
| 114 | Finland | 8,734 |
| 115 | Panama | 8,456 |
| 116 | Burundi | 8,317 |
| 117 | Gabon | 8,314 |
| 118 | Latvia | 7,610 |
| 119 | Liberia | 7,425 |
| 120 | Rwanda | 7,271 |
| 121 | Slovak Republic | 7,046 |
| 122 | Netherlands | 6,961 |
| 123 | Haiti | 6,931 |
| 124 | Djibouti | 6,579 |
| 125 | Costa Rica | 6,534 |
| 126 | Armenia | 6,380 |
| 127 | Iceland | 6,324 |
| 128 | Korea, Rep. | 6,054 |
| 129 | Switzerland | 5,765 |
| 130 | Croatia | 5,737 |
| 131 | Oman | 5,682 |
| 132 | Papua New Guinea | 5,425 |
| 133 | Belgium | 5,225 |
| 134 | North Macedonia | 4,830 |
| 135 | El Salvador | 4,617 |
| 136 | Eswatini | 4,614 |
| 137 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 4,297 |
| 138 | Albania | 4,033 |
| 139 | Jordan | 3,954 |
| 140 | Estonia | 3,815 |
| 141 | Norway | 3,792 |
| 142 | Guinea-Bissau | 3,245 |
| 143 | Guyana | 2,780 |
| 144 | Lebanon | 2,603 |
| 145 | Gambia, The | 2,448 |
| 146 | Slovenia | 2,360 |
| 147 | Israel | 2,072 |
| 148 | Bhutan | 2,035 |
| 149 | Jamaica | 1,610 |
| 150 | United Arab Emirates | 1,512 |
| 151 | West Bank and Gaza | 1,510 |
| 152 | Timor-Leste | 1,318 |
| 153 | Fiji | 1,203 |
| 154 | Montenegro | 1,017 |
| 155 | Greenland | 939 |
| 156 | Vanuatu | 722 |
| 157 | New Caledonia | 711 |
| 158 | Belize | 703 |
| 159 | Puerto Rico (US) | 652 |
| 160 | Kuwait | 579 |
| 161 | Comoros | 514 |
| 162 | Luxembourg | 514 |
| 163 | Cyprus | 498 |
| 164 | Solomon Islands | 422 |
| 165 | Equatorial Guinea | 404 |
| 166 | Faroe Islands | 371 |
| 167 | Mauritius | 332 |
| 168 | Cabo Verde | 305 |
| 169 | Qatar | 286 |
| 170 | Suriname | 276 |
| 171 | Trinidad and Tobago | 208 |
| 172 | Samoa | 189 |
| 173 | Sao Tome and Principe | 166 |
| 174 | Isle of Man | 152 |
| 175 | Tonga | 135 |
| 176 | Kiribati | 131 |
| 177 | French Polynesia | 116 |
| 178 | Dominica | 97 |
| 179 | Andorra | 72 |
| 180 | Guam | 62 |
| 181 | Brunei Darussalam | 52 |
| 182 | Bahamas, The | 50 |
| 183 | Barbados | 39 |
| 184 | St. Lucia | 38 |
| 185 | Antigua and Barbuda | 35 |
| 186 | Malta | 32 |
| 187 | Bahrain | 31 |
| 188 | Grenada | 31 |
| 189 | Marshall Islands | 27 |
| 190 | St. Vincent and the Grenadines | 27 |
| 191 | British Virgin Islands | 27 |
| 192 | St. Kitts and Nevis | 23 |
| 193 | Maldives | 23 |
| 194 | Liechtenstein | 20 |
| 195 | Micronesia, Fed. Sts. | 19 |
| 196 | Palau | 17 |
| 197 | Hong Kong SAR, China | 15 |
| 198 | Virgin Islands (U.S.) | 13 |
| 199 | American Samoa | 11 |
| 200 | Cayman Islands | 10 |
| 201 | San Marino | 9 |
| 202 | Aruba | 8 |
| 203 | Tuvalu | 7 |
| 204 | Seychelles | 6 |
| 205 | Turks and Caicos Islands | 4 |
| 206 | Singapore | 3 |
| 207 | Northern Mariana Islands | 2 |
| 208 | Nauru | 2 |
| 209 | Bermuda | 1 |
China even has more agricultural land than larger countries like Russia (833,000 sq. mi) and Canada (220,000) owing to those countries’ vast frozen and tundra geographies.
However, climate change is likely to change the landscape of global agriculture, as new northern regions become more hospitable for agriculture.
The Top Agricultural Players
The United States (1.6 million), Australia (1.4 million), and Brazil (914,000) round out the top five countries worldwide. Each of these countries specializes in different crops.
For example, the U.S. is the world’s largest producer of corn, while Brazil is the top grower of both soybeans and sugarcane.
Meanwhile, Australia has overcome its mostly arid geography to become a major wheat and cereals grower, rivaling major producers like India (689,000) and Ukraine (160,000).
Africa’s Growing Desert Problem
African countries make up nearly half of the top 50 countries worldwide by square mileage of agricultural land area. They’re led by larger countries like Sudan (435,000), South Africa (372,000), and Nigeria (268,000).
As with peers in Eurasia and the Americas, African agriculture is increasingly facing challenges from climate change.
In particular, the growing desertification problem is reducing countries’ agricultural land, especially in the Sahel region, as temperatures rise and soil becomes less fertile for growing crops. Over-farming and over-grazing are exacerbating regional soil erosion and deepening desertification.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
If you enjoyed today’s post, check out Which Economies Have the Largest Ecological Footprints? on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.