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Fertilizer use per hectare of cropland, 2021

Application of all fertilizer products (including nitrogenous, potash, and phosphate fertilizers), measured in kilogramsof total nutrient per hectare of cropland.

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    Data

    Fertilizer use per hectare of cropland

    FAO
    See all data and research on:
    Agricultural Production

    About this data

    Fertilizer use per hectare of cropland
    FAO
    Agricultural use of all fertilizer products (including nitrogenous, potash, and phosphate fertilizers) per area of cropland, which corresponds to the sum of arable land and permanent crops.
    Source
    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data
    Last updated
    March 14, 2024
    Next expected update
    March 2025
    Date range
    1961–2021
    Unit
    kilograms per hectare

    Related research and writing

    How effective are policies in reducing the environmental impacts of agriculture?

    Hannah Ritchie

    Can we reduce fertilizer use without sacrificing food production?

    Hannah Ritchie

    Sources and processing

    This data is based on the following sources

    The Fertilizers by Nutrient dataset contains information on the totals in nutrients for Production, Trade and Agriculture Use of inorganic (chemical or mineral) fertilizers, over the time series 1961-present.

    The data are provided for the three primary plant nutrients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (expressed as P2O5) and potassium (expressed as K2O). Both straight and compound fertilizers are included. There is information on the methodology available at: https://fenixservices.fao.org/faostat/static/documents/RFN/RFN_EN_README.pdf

    Retrieved on
    March 14, 2024
    Retrieved from
    http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/RFN
    Citation
    This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - Land, Inputs and Sustainability: Fertilizers by Nutrient (2023).

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    Citations

    How to cite this page

    To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

    “Data Page: Fertilizer use per hectare of cropland”, part of the following publication: Hannah Ritchie, Pablo Rosado and Max Roser (2023) - “Agricultural Production”. Data adapted from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved from https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/fertilizer-use-per-hectare-of-cropland [online resource]
    How to cite this data

    In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data

    Full citation

    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data. “Fertilizer use per hectare of cropland – FAO” [dataset]. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, “Land, Inputs and Sustainability: Fertilizers by Nutrient” [original data]. Retrieved May 29, 2025 from https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/fertilizer-use-per-hectare-of-cropland

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