What is land area in World?

Land area in World was 129.76 million sq. km in 2023, according to FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

What is the highest land area recorded in World?

The highest recorded value was 129.96 million sq. km in 2020.

What is the lowest land area recorded in World?

The lowest recorded value was 104.21 million sq. km in 1989.

Is land area rising or falling in World?

Over the last ten years it is down 0.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this World data come from?

The figures come from FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), published as part of Land area (sq. km). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Land area in World

Name: Land area in World
Creator: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
License: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)

World: Land area was 129.76 million sq. km in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)

129.76 million sq. km

Change on year

up 0.0%

All-time high

129.96 million sq. km

in 2020

All-time low

104.21 million sq. km

in 1989

Years of data

1961–2023

Land area in World, 1961–2023

Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in sq. km.

Analysis

The most recent figure for land area in World is 129.76 million sq. km, measured in 2023.

That represents a change of down 0.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, land area in World peaked at 129.96 million sq. km in 2020 and was at its lowest, 104.21 million sq. km, in 1989.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1960s	104.22 million sq. km	104.22 million sq. km	104.22 million sq. km	9
1970s	104.22 million sq. km	104.22 million sq. km	104.22 million sq. km	10
1980s	104.21 million sq. km	104.21 million sq. km	104.22 million sq. km	10
1990s	122.38 million sq. km	104.21 million sq. km	127.12 million sq. km	10
2000s	127.33 million sq. km	127.19 million sq. km	127.45 million sq. km	10
2010s	129.44 million sq. km	127.44 million sq. km	129.95 million sq. km	10
2020s	129.82 million sq. km	129.76 million sq. km	129.96 million sq. km	4

More agriculture & rural data for World

Agricultural raw materials exports 1.2% (2024)
Agricultural raw materials imports 1.2% (2024)
Rural population 42.2% (2025)
Rural population growth 0.3% (2025)
Rural population 3.46 billion (2025)
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 4.0% (2025)
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 4.75 trillion current US$ (2025)
Land under cereal production 415.70 million hectares (2024)
Cereal yield 3,955 kg per hectare (2024)
Cereal production 1.64 billion metric tons (2024)

All data for World →

Frequently asked questions

What is land area in World?: Land area in World was 129.76 million sq. km in 2023, according to FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
What is the highest land area recorded in World?: The highest recorded value was 129.96 million sq. km in 2020.
What is the lowest land area recorded in World?: The lowest recorded value was 104.21 million sq. km in 1989.
Is land area rising or falling in World?: Over the last ten years it is down 0.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this World data come from?: The figures come from FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), published as part of Land area (sq. km). 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

Indicator: Land area (sq. km)
Unit: sq. km
Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage: 263 places, 15,310 data points, 1961–2023
Last refreshed: 06 August 2026

Land area is a country's total area, excluding area under inland water bodies, national claims to continental shelf, and exclusive economic zones. In most cases the definition of inland water bodies includes major rivers and lakes.