Arable land in Japan
Japan: Arable land was 4.04 million hectares in 2023. ▼ Falling
Arable land in Japan, 1961–2023
Source: FAO electronic files and web site, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in hectares.
Analysis
Japan recorded 4.04 million hectares for arable land in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 63 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.5% on the previous year and down 4.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, arable land in Japan peaked at 5.66 million hectares in 1961 and was at its lowest, 4.04 million hectares, in 2023.
That places Japan 56th out of 206 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 63 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 5.46 million hectares | 5.16 million hectares | 5.66 million hectares | 9 |
| 1970s | 4.99 million hectares | 4.88 million hectares | 5.20 million hectares | 10 |
| 1980s | 4.83 million hectares | 4.79 million hectares | 4.87 million hectares | 10 |
| 1990s | 4.64 million hectares | 4.50 million hectares | 4.77 million hectares | 10 |
| 2000s | 4.37 million hectares | 4.29 million hectares | 4.47 million hectares | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.21 million hectares | 4.12 million hectares | 4.28 million hectares | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.08 million hectares | 4.04 million hectares | 4.10 million hectares | 4 |
Countries ranked near Japan
More agriculture & rural data for Japan
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.5% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.6% (2025)
- Rural population 7.7% (2025)
- Rural population growth -1.9% (2025)
- Rural population 9.50 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 1.0% (2024)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 40.15 billion current US$ (2024)
- Land under cereal production 1.84 million hectares (2023)
- Cereal yield 6,245 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal production 11.50 million metric tons (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is arable land in Japan?
- Arable land in Japan was 4.04 million hectares in 2023, according to FAO electronic files and web site, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
- What is the highest arable land recorded in Japan?
- The highest recorded value was 5.66 million hectares in 1961.
- What is the lowest arable land recorded in Japan?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.04 million hectares in 2023.
- How does Japan rank for arable land?
- Japan ranks 56th out of 206 countries with data for 2023.
- Is arable land rising or falling in Japan?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Japan data come from?
- The figures come from FAO electronic files and web site, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), published as part of Arable land (hectares). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 63 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Arable land (in hectares) includes land defined by the FAO as land under temporary crops (double-cropped areas are counted once), temporary meadows for mowing or for pasture, land under market or kitchen gardens, and land temporarily fallow. Land abandoned as a result of shifting cultivation is excluded.