Farmland: World, 1961–2021
Draw it before you lookCould you sketch this curve from memory? Draw it, then see how close you were.Farmland in World: how has it changed since 1961?
Farmland (World) went from 4.43 in 1961 to 4.81 in 2021.
The world's farmland grew for 40 years, from 4.4 to about 4.9 billion hectares. Forests and grasslands were cleared for fields and pasture. Around 2000 it peaked. Since then it has slowly shrunk while farms grow more food, thanks to better yields.
What are the key figures?
- First year
- 4.43 in 1961
- Latest year
- 4.81 in 2021
- Highest
- 4.87 in 2000
- Lowest
- 4.43 in 1961
- Change
- 1.1× higher
What does this chart measure?
Farmland (billion hectares). Land used to grow crops plus land where farm animals graze. One value every 3 years.
What happened along the way?
- 2000Peak farmland
What are the exact numbers?
| Year | billion hectares |
|---|---|
| 1961 | 4.43 |
| 1964 | 4.45 |
| 1967 | 4.49 |
| 1970 | 4.52 |
| 1973 | 4.57 |
| 1976 | 4.59 |
| 1979 | 4.62 |
| 1982 | 4.66 |
| 1985 | 4.72 |
| 1988 | 4.76 |
| 1991 | 4.78 |
| 1994 | 4.83 |
| 1997 | 4.85 |
| 2000 | 4.87 |
| 2003 | 4.85 |
| 2006 | 4.81 |
| 2009 | 4.79 |
| 2012 | 4.82 |
| 2015 | 4.79 |
| 2018 | 4.8 |
| 2021 | 4.81 |
Where does the data come from?
Has the world passed peak agricultural land?. Taylor and Rising (2021); Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025); HYDE (2025). Data published by Our World in Data under CC BY 4.0.
Played in CurvGuessr puzzle #4, November 8, 2026. Past puzzles
Embed this chart
Add this draw-it challenge to a blog, a newsroom page or a lesson. It's free; keep the credit line.
Think you'd have drawn it right? Today's puzzle takes three minutes.
Play today's puzzle