Gross Domestic Product by Arable Land in Europe

Oct 6, 2017
Scatter plot of area and GDP

The chart above shows economic output as it relates to arable land.  The countries to the top left have a larger ratio of gross domestic product (GDP) to arable land, while countries to the bottom right have a smaller ratio of GDP to arable land.  Iceland, San Marino, and Malta have the largest ratio of GDP to area whereas Moldova, Ukraine, and Belarus have the smallest ratio of GDP to area.

Findings

  • Five countries have a GDP per square kilometer of arable land of over 100 million international dollars.
  • Moldova has the smallest ratio of GDP to arable land with an economy of just over one million times that of its arable land in square kilometers.
  • Iceland has the largest ratio of GDP to arable land with an economy of over 254 million times that of its arable land in square kilometers.
  • Iceland went from having the smallest ratio of GDP to total land area to the highest ratio when only arable land is factored in.

Caveats

  • Arable land may be a better attribute to use than total land area because it indicates where people are willing to live however, countries are likely to have resources beyond what can be found within their arable lands.
  • Andorra, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Vatican City, Isle of Man, Jersey, Liechtenstein, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Monaco, Russia, Slovakia were missing data.

Details

Iceland makes quite the transition as when its GDP is compared to total land the country has the smallest ratio, but when compared only to arable land, it has the largest ratio.

Once again, former Soviet republics do not fare so well.  The twelve worst performers are all either former Soviet republics or Balkan states.

Data

CodeCountryArable Land (square km)GDP (in millions)GDP Per Square Kilometer
MDMoldova18,67920,2071,081,803
UAUkraine338,619368,0471,086,906
BYBelarus56,467173,4053,070,909
RSSerbia29,218107,1313,666,610
LTLithuania22,79090,3873,966,082
BABosnia and Herzegovina10,08644,4624,408,289
LVLatvia12,01653,2684,433,089
BGBulgaria33,159152,0794,586,357
RORomania93,214470,3125,045,508
ALAlbania6,51536,1985,556,101
EEEstonia6,73540,2755,979,955
MEMontenegro1,78410,9346,128,924
HUHungary45,105284,2666,302,317
FIFinland25,019239,6629,579,200
PLPoland113,1971,114,1059,842,178
HRCroatia9,056100,00611,043,065
DKDenmark25,386284,04011,188,844
CZCzech Republic32,349368,65911,396,303
GRGreece26,004302,15011,619,366
FRFrance215,0292,833,06413,175,265
ESSpain125,8451,768,81614,055,513
SESweden24,019522,84921,768,142
PTPortugal10,960310,65128,344,069
ATAustria13,844432,42431,235,481
IEIreland10,826343,68231,745,982
ITItaly68,6972,303,10833,525,598
DEGermany121,7374,134,66833,963,939
SISlovenia1,70669,35840,655,334
GBUnited Kingdom61,1442,905,39247,517,205
NONorway7,124377,10052,933,745
BEBelgium8,296529,28963,800,506
NLNetherlands12,367907,61973,390,394
LULuxembourg62063,549102,498,387
CHSwitzerland4,213514,162122,041,775
MTMalta9918,404185,898,990
SMSan Marino102,093209,300,000
ISIceland7017,846254,942,857

Sources

"Report for Selected Countries and Subjects."  https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2017/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=43&pr.y=19&sy=2017&ey=2017&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=512%2C672%2C914%2C946%2C612%2C137%2C614%2C546%2C311%2C962%2C213%2C674%2C911%2C676%2C193%2C548%2C122%2C556%2C912%2C678%2C313%2C181%2C419%2C867%2C513%2C682%2C316%2C684%2C913%2C273%2C124%2C868%2C339%2C921%2C638%2C948%2C514%2C943%2C218%2C686%2C963%2C688%2C616%2C518%2C223%2C728%2C516%2C558%2C918%2C138%2C748%2C196%2C618%2C278%2C624%2C692%2C522%2C694%2C622%2C142%2C156%2C449%2C626%2C564%2C628%2C565%2C228%2C283%2C924%2C853%2C233%2C288%2C632%2C293%2C636%2C566%2C634%2C964%2C238%2C182%2C662%2C359%2C960%2C453%2C423%2C968%2C935%2C922%2C128%2C714%2C611%2C862%2C321%2C135%2C243%2C716%2C248%2C456%2C469%2C722%2C253%2C942%2C642%2C718%2C643%2C724%2C939%2C576%2C644%2C936%2C819%2C961%2C172%2C813%2C132%2C199%2C646%2C733%2C648%2C184%2C915%2C524%2C134%2C361%2C652%2C362%2C174%2C364%2C328%2C732%2C258%2C366%2C656%2C734%2C654%2C144%2C336%2C146%2C263%2C463%2C268%2C528%2C532%2C923%2C944%2C738%2C176%2C578%2C534%2C537%2C536%2C742%2C429%2C866%2C433%2C369%2C178%2C744%2C436%2C186%2C136%2C925%2C343%2C869%2C158%2C746%2C439%2C926%2C916%2C466%2C664%2C112%2C826%2C111%2C542%2C298%2C967%2C927%2C443%2C846%2C917%2C299%2C544%2C582%2C941%2C474%2C446%2C754%2C666%2C698%2C668&s=PPPGDP&grp=0&a=.  International Monetary Fund.

US Department of State.  2017.  "The World Factbook."  Accessed September 21, 2017.  https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2147.html.

Filed under: Scatter Plots