Source: Our World in Data/FAO (2023), updated February 2026.
CC-BY 4.0
Humans rely on Earth's land for agricultural production, making agriculture critical to human survival. There are approximately 48 million km² (44%) of habitable land used for agriculture around the world, according to Our World In Data. That area is almost five times the size of the continental United States, demonstrating that agriculture requires a lot of land to sustain global food production.
Agricultural land can be classified into two main types: Cropland (1/3 total agricultural area) is used primarily for producing fruit, vegetables, and grains, while 2/3 of agricultural land is used primarily for grazing livestock (i.e., cows, sheep, and goats).
Roughly 80% of total agriculturally productive land is devoted to supporting livestock. However, animal food supplies provide only 17% to 18% of the global caloric intake and 38% of the protein consumed in the world, which shows high inefficiency in the use of land resources.
There are serious environmental consequences of using so much land for agriculture. The conversion of natural forestry and wetland ecosystems into agricultural fields contributes to loss of biodiversity from our planet and higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The raising of livestock requires vast amounts of land, fresh water, and feed – so much so that livestock produce significantly more resource use for humans than they provide agricultural products to humans.
To minimise agricultural resource use and reduce the harmful effects of agriculture on the environment, more sustainable agricultural practices are necessary. Solutions include increasing crop yield, promoting a shift towards plant-based diets, and decreasing the use of food crops for biofuel production (Poore & Nemecek, 2018).
For the next generation, it is important that we find a way to provide adequate nutrition to humans while protecting food ecosystems and habitats so that agriculture can continue to provide nourishment for billions of people and preserve the earth's landscapes and habitats.
Data Source / Attribution:
Infographic from Our World in Data: (Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser), based on UN FAO data and Poore & Nemecek (2018). Full original article: https://ourworldindata.org/global-land-for-agriculture
The core diagram and key proportions: (44% of habitable land for agriculture, ~80% livestock use including feed cropland, and ~17 to 18% calories / ~38% protein from animal products) remain unchanged and representative.
Supporting totals: (global agricultural land: ~4.8 billion hectares) and trends (slight net decline since 2001) are consistent with FAO 2025 data (through 2023), and related OWID charts were refreshed as recently as February 2026.
License: CC-BY 4.0
Further Reading:
Gerten, D., et al. (2020). Feeding ten billion people is possible within four terrestrial planetary boundaries. Nature Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0465-1