Which country in South America has the most arable land?

Argentina has the most arable land in South America: 17.1% of the land arable (2024). Next come Uruguay (12.4% of the land arable) and Paraguay (11.5% of the land arable).

Which country in South America has the least arable land?

Suriname, with 0.3% of the land arable (2024).

What is the typical arable land of a country in South America?

The median of the 12 countries in South America is 3.4% of the land arable: half are above it, half below. The median, not the average, because a few countries at the top would drag an average far above almost everyone.

Where do the figures come from?

The share of the land that is ploughed and sown with crops that are replanted, or left fallow for a while. Source: World Bank, 2024. Only independent states are ranked; territories are listed separately. A country’s continent follows Natural Earth; the handful of island states it files under the open ocean are placed by their UN subregion.

Countries in South America by arable land

The share of the land that is ploughed and sown with crops that are replanted, or left fallow for a while. 12 countries in South America, highest first. World Bank, 2024

See it on the map

Map: Arable land — South America — **1.6%3.8%7.4%12%19%30%**No data

Highest

17.1%

Argentina

Median country

3.4%

half above, half below

Lowest

0.3%

Suriname

Countries in South America by arable land, World Bank, 2024
#	Country	% of land	Region
1	Argentina	17.1%	South America
2	Uruguay	12.4%	South America
3	Paraguay	11.5%	South America
4	Brazil	6.7%	South America
5	Bolivia	5.6%	South America
6	Ecuador	3.7%	South America
7	Peru	3.1%	South America
8	Venezuela	2.9%	South America
9	Colombia	2.7%	South America
10	Chile	1.9%	South America
11	Guyana	0.4%	South America
12	Suriname	0.3%	South America

Questions

Which country in South America has the most arable land?: Argentina has the most arable land in South America: 17.1% of the land arable (2024). Next come Uruguay (12.4% of the land arable) and Paraguay (11.5% of the land arable).
Which country in South America has the least arable land?: Suriname, with 0.3% of the land arable (2024).
What is the typical arable land of a country in South America?: The median of the 12 countries in South America is 3.4% of the land arable: half are above it, half below. The median, not the average, because a few countries at the top would drag an average far above almost everyone.
Where do the figures come from?: The share of the land that is ploughed and sown with crops that are replanted, or left fallow for a while. Source: World Bank, 2024. Only independent states are ranked; territories are listed separately. A country’s continent follows Natural Earth; the handful of island states it files under the open ocean are placed by their UN subregion.

Source: World Bank (CC BY 4.0). Figures more than 5 years older than the newest are left out rather than shown beside current ones. Countries sharing a value share a rank. All sources.