Mapped: Which Countries Have the Most Arable Land?

A Global Look at Arable Land

This visualization by Iswardi Ishak maps the percentage of each country’s land area classified as arable, using data from the World Bank Group.

Arable land includes areas under temporary crops, temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, market or kitchen gardens, and temporarily fallow land. The measure is a share of total land area rather than the absolute amount of farmland a country possesses.

Where Arable Land Makes Up the Biggest Share

The table below ranks countries by arable land as a percentage of total land area, based on World Bank data.

Rank	Country	% of Arable Land out of Total Land Area
1	Bangladesh	60.6
2	Denmark	59.1
3	Ukraine	56.8
4	Moldova	56.8
5	India	51.8
6	Burundi	51.4
7	Togo	48.7
8	Rwanda	47.0
9	Hungary	45.4
10	Gambia, The	43.5
11	Malawi	42.4
12	Nigeria	40.5
13	Pakistan	39.3
14	Mauritius	37.6
15	Lithuania	36.8
16	Poland	36.6
17	Romania	36.5
18	Haiti	36.5
19	Comoros	34.9
20	El Salvador	34.8
21	Uganda	34.4
22	Germany	33.4
23	San Marino	33.1
24	Czechia	32.7
25	Bulgaria	32.1
26	Benin	31.4
27	France	31.4
28	Thailand	31.0
29	Serbia	31.0
30	Netherlands	30.0
31	Burkina Faso	28.9
32	Belgium	28.3
33	Cuba	28.0
34	Tonga	27.8
35	Belarus	27.4
36	Slovak Republic	27.2
37	Turkiye	26.3
38	Azerbaijan	25.3
39	United Kingdom	25.0
40	Guinea	24.4
41	Syrian Arab Republic	24.0
42	Italy	24.0
43	Luxembourg	23.8
44	Cambodia	23.3
45	Spain	23.0
46	Malta	22.8
47	Sri Lanka	22.2
48	Sierra Leone	21.9
49	Latvia	21.9
50	Albania	21.6
51	Vietnam	21.5
52	Ghana	20.7
53	Dominican Republic	20.2
54	Senegal	19.9
55	St. Kitts and Nevis	19.2
56	Korea, Dem. People’s Rep.	19.1
57	Philippines	18.7
58	Tunisia	18.2
59	Myanmar	16.9
60	Estonia	16.6
61	United States	16.6
62	North Macedonia	16.5
63	Barbados	16.3
64	Austria	16.0
65	Armenia	15.7
66	Croatia	15.5
67	Morocco	15.4
68	Tanzania	15.2
69	Cote d’Ivoire	15.1
70	South Korea	14.9
71	Argentina	14.8
72	Ethiopia	14.5
73	Guatemala	14.5
74	Greece	14.4
75	Guinea-Bissau	14.1
76	Niger	14.0
77	Maldives	13.4
78	Lebanon	13.1
79	Cameroon	13.1
80	Nepal	12.6
81	Uruguay	12.6
82	Israel	12.5
83	Nicaragua	12.5
84	Cabo Verde	12.4
85	Afghanistan	12.0
86	Lesotho	11.8
87	China	11.5
88	Paraguay	11.5
89	Iraq	11.4
90	Kenya	11.4
91	Sudan	11.2
92	Japan	11.1
93	Jamaica	11.1
94	Kazakhstan	11.0
95	Liechtenstein	10.8
96	Cyprus	10.6
97	Zimbabwe	10.4
98	Mexico	10.3
99	Eswatini	10.3
100	Portugal	10.1
101	Switzerland	10.0
102	South Africa	9.9
103	Iran, Islamic Rep.	9.7
104	Indonesia	9.4
105	Uzbekistan	9.1
106	Honduras	9.1
107	Antigua and Barbuda	9.1
108	Slovenia	8.9
109	Grenada	8.8
110	Dominica	8.0
111	Panama	7.6
112	Timor-Leste	7.5
113	Russian Federation	7.4
114	Finland	7.4
115	Bosnia and Herzegovina	7.2
116	Mozambique	7.2
117	West Bank and Gaza	7.0
118	Mali	6.8
119	Kyrgyz Republic	6.7
120	Brazil	6.7
121	Congo, Dem. Rep.	6.6
122	Ireland	6.4
123	Sweden	6.2
124	Tajikistan	6.1
125	Eritrea	5.7
126	Bermuda	5.6
127	Laos	5.3
128	Liberia	5.2
129	Madagascar	5.2
130	Bolivia	5.1
131	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	5.1
132	Zambia	5.1
133	Trinidad and Tobago	4.9
134	Belize	4.4
135	St. Lucia	4.4
136	Georgia	4.4
137	Canada	4.3
138	Angola	4.3
139	Chad	4.2
140	Fiji	4.2
141	Sao Tome and Principe	4.2
142	Ecuador	4.1
143	Australia	4.0
144	South Sudan	3.9
145	Samoa	3.9
146	Turkmenistan	3.4
147	Costa Rica	3.3
148	Algeria	3.2
149	Egypt	3.1
150	Peru	3.1
151	Venezuela	2.9
152	Central African Republic	2.9
153	Micronesia, Fed. Sts.	2.9
154	Bahrain	2.6
155	Bhutan	2.6
156	Kiribati	2.5
157	Malaysia	2.4
158	Colombia	2.3
159	Jordan	2.3
160	Norway	2.2
161	Yemen	2.2
162	New Zealand	2.0
163	Chile	1.9
164	Equatorial Guinea	1.9
165	Guam	1.9
166	Qatar	1.8
167	Somalia	1.8
168	Vanuatu	1.6
169	Congo, Rep.	1.6
170	Saudi Arabia	1.6
171	Andorra	1.6
172	Gabon	1.3
173	Iceland	1.2
174	Libya	1.0
175	Namibia	1.0
176	Solomon Islands	0.8
177	Bahamas, The	0.8
178	Singapore	0.8
179	Brunei Darussalam	0.8
180	Mongolia	0.7
181	Papua New Guinea	0.7
182	United Arab Emirates	0.7
183	Montenegro	0.7
184	Palau	0.7
185	Guyana	0.5
186	Botswana	0.5
187	Kuwait	0.4
188	Mauritania	0.4
189	Suriname	0.3
190	Seychelles	0.3
191	Oman	0.3
192	Djibouti	0.1

Bangladesh leads at 60.6%, ahead of Denmark (59.1%), Ukraine and Moldova (both 56.8%), and India (51.8%). Several African countries also rank highly, including Burundi, Togo, Rwanda, and Nigeria.

A high arable-land percentage does not necessarily mean a country has more farmland or produces more food. Because this ranking measures arable land as a share of national territory, large countries can have relatively modest percentages while still cultivating enormous areas. This helps explain why the countries that feed the world differ from those with the highest arable-land shares.

The Contrast Between South Asia and the Middle East

South Asia stands out for its extensive river systems and fertile plains, particularly around the Ganges-Brahmaputra and Indus basins. The International Water Management Institute notes that these transboundary water systems are central to regional agricultural productivity.

Agriculture also remains deeply embedded in the region’s economies and livelihoods. In India, for example, small farms remain widespread, while irrigation and intensive cultivation support farming across large areas.

The opposite pattern appears across much of the Middle East. The Arab Land Initiative reports that 92% of the Arab region is hyper-arid, while water scarcity and land degradation put additional pressure on agricultural areas.

Countries with limited rainfall have consequently relied on irrigation and groundwater, technology, and food imports to bridge the gap between domestic production and consumption. A low arable-land share therefore does not by itself determine food security, as access to water, trade, and infrastructure also matter.

Does More Arable Land Mean a Country Is Poorer?

The ranking includes lower-income countries such as Burundi and Malawi alongside wealthier European economies such as Denmark, Hungary, and Lithuania, showing that there is no simple relationship between income and arable-land share.

However, agriculture often plays a larger economic and employment role in developing countries.

Research highlighted by Yale notes that small farms are particularly prevalent in low-income economies, where agricultural employment remains substantial. Geography influences how much land can be cultivated, while farm size, capital, and technology help determine how economically productive that land becomes.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

For another look at how agricultural land is distributed, see The States with the Most Farmland on the Voronoi app.

• Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/mapped-which-countries-have-the-most-arable-land/