What we count
The average annual area of previously healthy and productive land reported as degraded in national submissions.
Land degraded this year
Land degraded worldwide so far this year, based on UNCCD's latest global rate, and why land degradation is not the same as desert formation.
Continuously calculated
WORLDRelated numbers in context
23,642,876,712fossil co₂ emissions this year
38,473,973electronic waste generated this year
900,415toxic chemicals released in the us this year
What lies behind this number
The average annual area of previously healthy and productive land reported as degraded in national submissions.
How the source derives it
UNCCD evaluates national reports for SDG indicator 15.3.1 using changes in land productivity, land cover and soil organic carbon stocks.
What one number cannot show
The global result is partial because not every country reported every indicator. Land degradation also means more than land turning into desert.
Source value
The calculation uses the latest published annual value reported by UNCCD Data Dashboard — SDG 15.3.1 for 2015–2019 (average annual change from national reports).
How the value is used: The running number shows the share corresponding to time elapsed since the start of the calendar year.
Annual value100,000,000hectares
- Period
- 2015–2019 (average annual change from national reports)
- Status
- published
- Primary data source
- UNCCD Data Dashboard — SDG 15.3.1
How the number is calculated
We distribute the latest published annual value evenly across the elapsed share of the calendar year.
Formula used
V(t) = Vyear × elapsed share of the yearAnnual reference value100,000,0002015–2019 (average annual change from national reports) · hectares
Average per day273,791even annual distribution
Calculation interval0.1 sContinuously calculated
Source value
UNCCD Data Dashboard — SDG 15.3.1 reports the annual value used by the calculation for 2015–2019 (average annual change from national reports).
Elapsed share
We calculate the share corresponding to time elapsed since the start of the calendar year. The counter restarts at the beginning of a new year.
Smooth display
The result is recalculated on screen every 0.1 seconds.
Where the data comes from
The source value comes from UNCCD Data Dashboard — SDG 15.3.1 and refers to 2015–2019 (average annual change from national reports). It is the latest value published by this source. UNCCD evaluates national reports for SDG indicator 15.3.1 using changes in land productivity, land cover and soil organic carbon stocks.
Latest published and verified source value
- Publisher
- UNCCD Data Dashboard — SDG 15.3.1
- Data period
- 2015–2019 (average annual change from national reports)
- Verified
- 12 August 2026
- Coverage
- Worldwide
- Use
- Even time-based calculation