% of land area · annual 1961–2023 · World Bank / FAO · 194 countries
Arable land, as a percentage of land area — a continuous annual series from 1961 to 2023. A subset of agricultural land: temporary crops only, excluding permanent pasture and permanent crops (orchards, plantations).
World Bank, World Development Indicators (AG.LND.ARBL.ZS) — primary source: FAO, Statistical Yearbook.
Time slider. Distribution far more compressed toward the low end than agricultural land (10th percentile 1.2%, median 10.6%, 90th percentile 34.8%): its own, tighter steps at the low end.
Bangladesh (61%) and Denmark (59%) top the ranking despite opposite contexts — one of the world's most densely populated and farmed deltas on one side, intensive, mechanised grain farming on the other. What they share: little relief, little forest, and most of the available land put under annual cultivation.