This statistic illustrates the total area of land that is suitable for agricultural use in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2003 to 2023. In 2023, approximately ***** million hectares of land in the United Kingdom was considered to be agricultural area. Additionally, the total croppable land area in the United Kingdom can be found at the following.

Agricultural land (% of land area) in United Kingdom was reported at 70.31 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. United Kingdom - Agricultural land (% of land area) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on November of 2025.

This statistic shows the total land area used as for arable crops in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2003 to 2022. In 2022, approximately *** million hectares of land in the United Kingdom were utilized for arable crop production. This area of land has not shown any significant change during the subsequent years. Additionally, the total land area used for crops in the United Kingdom can be found at the following.

This zip file contains the Standard Area Measurements (SAM) for the administrative areas in the United Kingdom as at 31 December 2022. This includes the wards, local authority districts, counties and regions in England and the countries. All measurements provided are ‘flat’ as they do not take into account variations in relief e.g. mountains and valleys. Measurements are given in hectares (10,000 square metres) to 2 decimal places. Four types of measurements are included: total extent (AREAEHECT), area to mean high water (coastline) (AREACHECT), area of inland water (AREAIHECT) and area to mean high water excluding area of inland water (land area) (AREALHECT). The Eurostat-recommended approach is to use the ‘land area’ measurement to compile population density figures.Change in the ward name W05001063 Pontlliew and Tircoed should have been called Pontlliw and Tircoed and we have made that change.This is a version 2 of the data as there was an error in the calculation of the Local Authorities, Counties, Regions, and CountriesClick the Download button to download the files

United Kingdom UK: Arable Land data was reported at 6,011,000.000 ha in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 6,233,500.000 ha for 2014. United Kingdom UK: Arable Land data is updated yearly, averaging 6,829,000.000 ha from Dec 1961 (Median) to 2015, with 55 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 7,354,000.000 ha in 1964 and a record low of 5,651,000.000 ha in 2001. United Kingdom UK: Arable Land data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Land Use, Protected Areas and National Wealth. 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.; ; Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site.; ;

Provides information on how farm practices are affected by environmental issues and to assess the impact of agriculture on the environment. Source agency: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Designation: National Statistics Language: English Alternative title: Farm Practices Farm Practices Survey October 2014 Survey methodology The results provided here are based on responses from approximately 2 500 holdings. Holdings were targeted by farm type and size to ensure a representative sample. To be included in the sample, holdings had to be considered commercial as detailed below: Thresholds for the EU Farm Structure Survey Characteristics Threshold Utilised agricultural area Arable land, kitchen gardens, permanent grassland, permanent crops >5 ha Permanent outdoor crops Fruit, berry, citrus and olive plantations, vineyards and nurseries >1 ha Outdoor intensive production Hops >0.5 ha Tobacco >0.5 ha Cotton >0.5 ha Fresh vegetables, melons and strawberries, which are outdoors or under low (not accessible) protective cover >0.5 ha Crops under glass or other (accessible) protective cover Fresh vegetables, melons and strawberries >0.1 ha Flowers and ornamental plants (excluding nurseries) >0.1 ha Bovine animals All >10 Head Pigs All >50 Head Breeding sows >10 Head Sheep All >20 Head Goats All >20 Head Poultry All >1,000 Head Hardy nursery stock >1 ha Mushrooms All mushroom holdings to be included >0 Farm size The farm size bands used within these detailed results tables are shown below. Standard Labour Requirement (SLR) is defined as the theoretical numbers of workers required each year to run a holding, based on its cropping and livestock activities. Farm size Definition Small =3 and = 5 SLR For more details of survey methodology and analysis please refer to the Survey details section within the Statistical Release on the Farm Practices Survey landing page: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/farm-practices-survey Farm Practices Survey February 2015 - greenhouse gas mitigation practices There are historical datasets not included. Survey methodology The latest results provided here are based on approximately 2 600 responses to the 2015 survey. Holdings were targeted by farm type and size to ensure a representative sample. Thresholds were applied to ensure that very small holdings with little agricultural activity were not included in the survey. To be included in the sample, holdings had to have at least 50 cattle, 100 sheep, 100 pigs, 1,000 poultry or 20 hectares of arable crops or orchards. Therefore results are national estimates that reflect only on the 60 thousand holdings that exceed these thresholds. For more details of survey methodology and analysis please refer to the Survey details section within the Statistical Release on the Farm Practices Survey webpage: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/farm-practices-survey Farm size The farm size bands used within these detailed results tables are shown below. Standard Labour Requirement (SLR) is defined as the theoretical numbers of workers required each year to run a holding, based on its cropping and livestock activities. Farm size Definition Small =2 and = 3 SLR Farmed area The farmed area here is defined as the total area on agricultural holdings on 1 June. This includes all arable and horticultural crops, temporary and permanent grassland, sole right rough grazing, woodland, land used for outdoor pigs and uncropped arable land. The farmed area used in the latest nutrient management section is taken from the 2014 June Survey of Agriculture and Horticuture. Data revisions In 2013 the 2012 results by farm size were reproduced for some sections - marked with a footnote. This was due to some holdings previously being classified into the incorrect size band. Although the number of responses used in each size band has changed the changes seen in the survey results have not been statistically significant unless indicated in each table. No revisions have occurred since. If you require the datasets in a more accessible format, please contact farming-statistics@defra.gsi.gov.uk

This statistic shows the total area of barley in hectares in the United Kingdom (UK) as of June 2017, by country. During this period there were approximately 1.2 million hectares of barley grown in the United Kingdom.

The dataset consists of a distribution map of ash trees (Fraxinus excelsior) within woodland areas of less than half a hectare across Great Britain. The data is derived from Countryside Survey 2007. Trees were mapped in 569 1km sample squares across Britain, and this national estimate dataset was derived from the sample data using ITE Land Classes. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/7f7c99c7-5457-444d-978a-fe7b01a85fd0

The National Forest Inventory (NFI) woodland map covers all forest and woodland area over 0.5 hectare with a minimum of 20% canopy cover, or the potential to achieve it, and a minimum width of 20 metres. This includes areas of new planting, clearfell, windblow and restock. The woodland map excludes all 'tarmac' roads and active railways, and forest roads, rivers and powerlines where the gap in the woodland is greater than 20 meters wide. All woodland (both urban and rural), regardless of ownership, is 0.5 hectare or greater in extent, with the exception of Assumed woodland or Low density areas that can be 0.1 hectare or greater in extent. Also, in the case of woodland areas that cross the countries borders, the minimum size restriction does not apply if the overall area complies with the minimum size. Woodland less than 0.5 hectare in extent, with the expectation of the areas above, will not be described within the dataset but will be included in a separate sample survey of small woodland and tree features. The woodland map is updated on an annual basis and the changes in the woodland boundaries use the Ordnance Survey MasterMap® (OSMM) as a reference where appropriated. The changes in the canopy cover have been identified on: • Sentinel 2 imagery taken during spring/summer 2021 or colour aerial orthophotographic imagery available at the time of the assessment; • New planting information for the financial year 2020/2021, from grant schemes and the sub-compartment database covering the estate of Forestry England; Woodland areas, greater than 0.5 hectares, are classified as an interpreted forest type (IFT) from aerial photography and satellite imagery. Non-woodland areas, open areas greater than 0.5 hectare completely surrounded by woodland are described according to open area types. IFT categories are Conifer, Broadleaved, Mixed mainly conifer, Mixed mainly broadleaved, Coppice, Coppice with standards, Shrub, Young trees, Felled, Ground prep, Cloud \ shadow, Uncertain, Low density, Assumed woodland, Failed, Windblow. IOA categories are Open water, Grassland, Agricultural land, Urban, Road, River, Powerline, Quarry, Bare area, Windfarm, Other vegetation. For further information regarding the interpreted forest types (IFT) and the interpreted open areas (IOA) please see NFI description of attributes available on www.forestresearch.gov.uk Attribution statement: © Forestry Commission copyright and/or database right 2023. All rights reserved.

This zip file contains the Standard Area Measurements (SAM) for the 2021 Statistical Areas in England and Wales as at Census Day (21 March 2021). This includes the Output Areas (OA), Lower layer Super Output Areas (LSOA), Middle layer Super Output Areas (MSOA), the Lower-Tier Local Authorities (LTLA) including the Unitary Authorities (E06 and W06), Non-metropolitan Districts (E07), Metropolitan Districts (E08) and London Boroughs (E09), the Upper-Tier Local Authorities (UTLA) including the Unitary Authorities (E06 and W06), Counties (E10), Metropolitan Districts (E08) and London Boroughs (E09), the Regions including the country of Wales, Countries and National. All measurements provided are ‘flat’ as they do not take into account variations in relief e.g. mountains and valleys. Measurements are given in hectares (10,000 square metres) to 2 decimal places and square kilometres to 4 decimal places. Four types of measurements are included: total extent (AREAEHECT), area to mean high water (coastline) (AREACHECT), area of inland water (AREAIHECT) and area to mean high water excluding area of inland water (land area) (AREALHECT). The Eurostat-recommended approach is to use the ‘land area’ measurement to compile population density figures.This V2 is because the user guide name was too long.PLEASE NOTE:There is an extremely small OA with the code E00187556 and measures 400 centimetres squared. This is because all the population and household points are centred around a very small space and to make sure it was in threshold it was manually changed to make it within threshold.Click the Download button to download the files

The National Forest Inventory (NFI) woodland map covers all forest and woodland area over 0.5 hectare with a minimum of 20% canopy cover, or the potential to achieve it, and a minimum width of 20 metres. This includes areas of new planting, clearfell, windblow and restock. The woodland map excludes all 'tarmac' roads and active railways, and forest roads, rivers and powerlines where the gap in the woodland is greater than 20 meters wide. All woodland (both urban and rural), regardless of ownership, is 0.5 hectare or greater in extent, with the exception of Assumed woodland or Low density areas that can be 0.1 hectare or greater in extent. Also, in the case of woodland areas that cross the countries borders, the minimum size restriction does not apply if the overall area complies with the minimum size. Woodland less than 0.5 hectare in extent, with the expectation of the areas above, will not be described within the dataset but will be included in a separate sample survey of small woodland and tree features. The woodland map is updated on an annual basis and the changes in the woodland boundaries use the Ordnance Survey MasterMap® (OSMM) as a reference where appropriated. The changes in the canopy cover have been identified on: • Sentinel 2 imagery taken during spring/summer 2019 and 2020 or colour aerial orthophotographic imagery available at the time of the assessment; • New planting information for the financial year 2019/2020, from grant schemes and the sub-compartment database covering the estate of Forestry England; Woodland areas, greater than 0.5 hectares, are classified as an interpreted forest type (IFT) from aerial photography and satellite imagery. Non-woodland areas, open areas greater than 0.5 hectare completely surrounded by woodland are described according to open area types. IFT categories are Conifer, Broadleaved, Mixed mainly conifer, Mixed mainly broadleaved, Coppice, Coppice with standards, Shrub, Young trees, Felled, Ground prep, Cloud \ shadow, Uncertain, Low density, Assumed woodland, Failed, Windblow. IOA categories are Open water, Grassland, Agricultural land, Urban, Road, River, Powerline, Quarry, Bare area, Windfarm, Other vegetation. For further information regarding the interpreted forest types (IFT) and the interpreted open areas (IOA) please see NFI description of attributes available on www.forestresearch.gov.uk Attribution statement: Any maps produced using this data should contain the following Forestry Commission acknowledgement: “Contains, or is based on, information supplied by the Forestry Commission. © Crown copyright and database right 2022 Ordnance Survey [100021242]”

The National Forest Inventory (NFI) woodland map covers all forest and woodland area over 0.5 hectare with a minimum of 20% canopy cover, or the potential to achieve it, and a minimum width of 20 metres. This includes areas of new planting, clearfell, windblow and restock. The woodland map excludes all 'tarmac' roads and active railways, and forest roads, rivers and powerlines where the gap in the woodland is greater than 20 meters wide. All woodland (both urban and rural), regardless of ownership, is 0.5 hectare or greater in extent, with the exception of Assumed woodland or Low density areas that can be 0.1 hectare or greater in extent. Also, in the case of woodland areas that cross the countries borders, the minimum size restriction does not apply if the overall area complies with the minimum size. Woodland less than 0.5 hectare in extent, with the expectation of the areas above, will not be described within the dataset but will be included in a separate sample survey of small woodland and tree features.

The woodland map is updated on an annual basis and the changes in the woodland boundaries use the Ordnance Survey MasterMap® (OSMM) as a reference where appropriated. The changes in the canopy cover have been identified on:

• Sentinel 2 imagery taken during spring/summer 2021 or colour aerial orthophotographic imagery available at the time of the assessment; • New planting information for the financial year 2020/2021, from grant schemes and the sub-compartment database covering the estate of Forestry England;

Woodland areas, greater than 0.5 hectares, are classified as an interpreted forest type (IFT) from aerial photography and satellite imagery. Non-woodland areas, open areas greater than 0.5 hectare completely surrounded by woodland are described according to open area types.

IFT categories are Conifer, Broadleaved, Mixed mainly conifer, Mixed mainly broadleaved, Coppice, Coppice with standards, Shrub, Young trees, Felled, Ground prep, Cloud \ shadow, Uncertain, Low density, Assumed woodland, Failed, Windblow.

IOA categories are Open water, Grassland, Agricultural land, Urban, Road, River, Powerline, Quarry, Bare area, Windfarm, Other vegetation.

For further information regarding the interpreted forest types (IFT) and the interpreted open areas (IOA) please see NFI description of attributes available on www.forestresearch.gov.uk

This statistic shows the total croppable area of land utilized as agricultural area in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2003 to 2023. In 2023, just over *********** hectares of land in the United Kingdom were utilized as croppable area. Additionally, the common rough grazing land area in the United Kingdom can be found at the following.

Virgin Islands (British) VG: Arable Land data was reported at 1,000.000 ha in 2021. This stayed constant from the previous number of 1,000.000 ha for 2020. Virgin Islands (British) VG: Arable Land data is updated yearly, averaging 2,000.000 ha from Dec 1961 (Median) to 2021, with 61 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3,000.000 ha in 1989 and a record low of 1,000.000 ha in 2021. Virgin Islands (British) VG: Arable Land data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Virgin Islands (British) – Table VG.World Bank.WDI: Environmental: Land Use, Protected Areas and National Wealth. 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.;Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site.;;

United Kingdom UK: Land under Cereal Production data was reported at 3,127,630.000 ha in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 3,099,217.000 ha for 2015. United Kingdom UK: Land under Cereal Production data is updated yearly, averaging 3,492,978.000 ha from Dec 1961 (Median) to 2016, with 56 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4,038,000.000 ha in 1984 and a record low of 2,863,222.000 ha in 2006. United Kingdom UK: Land under Cereal Production data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Agricultural Production and Consumption. Land under cereal production refers to harvested area, although some countries report only sown or cultivated area. Cereals include wheat, rice, maize, barley, oats, rye, millet, sorghum, buckwheat, and mixed grains. Production data on cereals relate to crops harvested for dry grain only. Cereal crops harvested for hay or harvested green for food, feed, or silage and those used for grazing are excluded.; ; Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site.; Sum;

This dataset is the 2018 Corine Land Cover map, consisting of 44 classes in the hierarchical three level Corine nomenclature. Corine Land Cover (CLC) 2018, CLC change 2012-2018 and CLC 2012 revised are three of the datasets produced within the frame of the Copernicus programme on land monitoring. Corine Land Cover (CLC) provides consistent information on land cover and land cover changes across Europe; these two maps are the UK component of Europe. This inventory was initiated in 1985 (reference year 1990) and established a time series of land cover information with updates in 2000, 2006 and 2012 being the last iteration. CLC products are based on photointerpretation of satellite images by national teams of participating countries – the EEA member and cooperating countries – following a standard methodology and nomenclature with the following base parameters: 44 classes in the hierarchical three level Corine nomenclature; minimum mapping unit (MMU) of status layers is 25 hectares; minimum width of linear elements is 100 metres; minimum mapping unit (MMU) for Land Cover Changes (LCC) for the change layers is 5 hectares. The resulting national land cover inventories are further integrated into a seamless land cover map of Europe. Land cover and land use (LCLU) information is important not only for land change research, but also more broadly for the monitoring of environmental change, policy support, the creation of environmental indicators and reporting. CLC datasets provide important datasets supporting the implementation of key priority areas of the Environment Action Programmes of the European Union as protecting ecosystems, halting the loss of biological diversity, tracking the impacts of climate change, assessing developments in agriculture and implementing the EU Water Framework Directive, among others. More information about the Corine Land Cover (CLC) and Copernicus land monitoring data in general can be found at http://land.copernicus.eu/.

United Kingdom Sown Area: Total Fruit data was reported at 35,195.130 ha in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 35,134.330 ha for 2016. United Kingdom Sown Area: Total Fruit data is updated yearly, averaging 33,456.500 ha from May 1986 (Median) to 2017, with 32 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 44,703.192 ha in 1986 and a record low of 27,094.539 ha in 2004. United Kingdom Sown Area: Total Fruit data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.B014: Agricultural Sown Area: by Commodities.

The December survey of Agriculture provides information and evidence on the condition of the agricultural industry in the UK. Source agency: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Designation: National Statistics Language: English Alternative title: December Survey of Agriculture, UK

If you require the data in a more accessible format, please contact farming-statistics@defra.gsi.gov.uk

Commercial holdings are defined as those that exceed at least one of the thresholds detailed below.
Thresholds for the EU Farm Structure Survey
Characteristics Threshold Utilised agricultural area Arable land, kitchen gardens, permanent grassland, permanent crops >5 ha Permanent outdoor crops Fruit, berry, citrus and olive plantations, vineyards and nurseries >1 ha Outdoor intensive production Hops >0.5 ha Tobacco >0.5 ha Cotton >0.5 ha Fresh vegetables, melons and strawberries, which are outdoors or under low (not accessible) protective cover >0.5 ha Crops under glass or other (accessible) protective cover Fresh vegetables, melons and strawberries >0.1 ha Flowers and ornamental plants (excluding nurseries) >0.1 ha Bovine animals All >10 Head Pigs All >50 Head Breeding sows >10 Head Sheep All >20 Head Goats All >20 Head Poultry All >1,000 Head Hardy nursery stock >1 ha Mushrooms All mushroom holdings to be included >0
Note: The UK have also re-included holdings with >5ha temporary let out land or temporarily empty pig or poultry sheds. Revisions to the 2009 England June Survey data
The 2009 June Survey figures were revised on 16 September 2010.
The 2009 figures were revised for two reasons. Firstly, the new methodology for 2010 employed thresholds to exclude holdings with very small amounts of activity, so revised 2009 figures were required to permit like-for-like comparisons. Secondly, the census prompted a register cleaning exercise that removed inactive holdings from the register.
Revisions to the 2009 England December Survey data
The 2009 December Survey figures were revised on 1 March 2011.
The December 2009 figures were revised in line with June 2009 figures for the reasons stated above. From 2010 onwards the December figures only relate to commercial holdings as defined by the EU Farm Structure Survey thresholds.
Changes to the source of December sheep data
"A review of the sources of sheep data as at 1 December was conducted in autumn 2010 to investigate the feasibility of using the Sheep and Goat (SAG) Inventory as the source of sheep data for the February returns to Eurostat and Defra publications of December data. Previously, sheep figures were collected in the annual December Survey of Agriculture at the same time that the SAG Inventory was held in England. This switch of sources would yield internal efficiencies and savings, avoid duplication of effort in data collection and reduce the burden of paperwork on farmers caused by Defra surveys. It would also improve the accuracy of the results, as over 56,000 SAG forms were sent out in England in the 2009 exercise compared with the corresponding December Survey’s sample of 15,000 holdings. The review recommended the SAG Inventory should be the source of English data on sheep at December and therefore questions about sheep were removed from the 2010 December Survey form. Results cover all sheep holdings in England. Data on sheep numbers will continue to be collected through the June Survey (for commercial holdings only)."

United Kingdom Sown Area: Field Vegetable: Others: Total data was reported at 23,870.034 ha in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 20,286.310 ha for 2016. United Kingdom Sown Area: Field Vegetable: Others: Total data is updated yearly, averaging 19,303.311 ha from May 1985 (Median) to 2017, with 33 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 30,432.212 ha in 2011 and a record low of 13,948.675 ha in 2003. United Kingdom Sown Area: Field Vegetable: Others: Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.B014: Agricultural Sown Area: by Commodities.

This data calculates the number of dwellings per hectare in each LSOA in the West of England and North Somerset, using the below data –(1) Dwellings dataThe selected dataset provides Census 2021 estimates on the number of dwellings in England and Wales. The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021.Dwelling definition“A dwelling is a unit of accommodation that may be empty or being lived in, for example houses or flats. They are usually made up of one household, but those with more than one household are shared and called a “shared dwelling”.If a dwelling has no usual residents living in them, for example they are empty after being sold, these are called “unoccupied dwellings” but may be used by short-term residents or visitors on Census Day, 21 March 2021, for example holiday homes.” (ONS)(2) Hectares dataTaken from: Standard Area Measurements for 2021 Statistical Geographies (March 2021) in EW (V2)Column used: Land count (Area in Hectares)