Arable land down for 11th consecutive year in 2023

South Korea's total arable land contracted for the 11th consecutive year in 2023 amid the lingering decline in the country's rice consumption, data showed Tuesday. The country's arable land totaled 1.51 million hectares as of end-2023, down 1.1 percent, or 16,000 hectares, from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The size of the rice paddy area fell 1.5 percent on-year to 764,000 hectares last year, accounting for 50.5 percent of the total arable land. Dry fields for agricultural production also shed 0.6 percent over the period to 748,000 hectares. Arable land in Asia's fourth-largest economy has been on the decline since 2013 due to declining rice consumption amid changes in diet and eating habits. South Koreans' consumption of rice hit an all-time low in 2023, with an average person consuming 56.4 kilograms of rice, down 0.6 percent from a year earlier, separate data showed earlier. Source: Yonhap News Agency