Area planted with GMOs

Global area planted with genetically modified crops (GMOs) in millions of hectares and as a percentage share of total cropland (arable land and land under permanent cultures).

Keeping scale in perspective

Despite the hype and controversy about genetically modified crops, their importance on a global scale remains limited and cultivation on a large scale takes place in just a few countries. The share of the total cropland planted with genetically modified crops has increased only slightly over the past decade, from 8% in 2007 to 12% in 2017. This equates to the total area planted with GM crops increasing from 114.3 million hectares in 2007 to 189.8 million hectares in 2017. For 2018, biotech lobby organization ISAAA, which provides the only publicly available global database on the adoption of GMOs, reports a 1% increase to 191.7 million hectares. Just five countries accounted for more than 90% of the entire area cultivated with GMOs: the United States planted 75 million hectares of GM crops in 2018, followed by Brazil with 51.3 million hectares, Argentina (23.9m hectares), and finally Canada and India with 12 million hectares respectively.