Gross Domestic Product by Arable Land in Europe

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

Code	Country	Arable Land (square km)	GDP (in millions)	GDP Per Square Kilometer
MD	Moldova	18,679	20,207	1,081,803
UA	Ukraine	338,619	368,047	1,086,906
BY	Belarus	56,467	173,405	3,070,909
RS	Serbia	29,218	107,131	3,666,610
LT	Lithuania	22,790	90,387	3,966,082
BA	Bosnia and Herzegovina	10,086	44,462	4,408,289
LV	Latvia	12,016	53,268	4,433,089
BG	Bulgaria	33,159	152,079	4,586,357
RO	Romania	93,214	470,312	5,045,508
AL	Albania	6,515	36,198	5,556,101
EE	Estonia	6,735	40,275	5,979,955
ME	Montenegro	1,784	10,934	6,128,924
HU	Hungary	45,105	284,266	6,302,317
FI	Finland	25,019	239,662	9,579,200
PL	Poland	113,197	1,114,105	9,842,178
HR	Croatia	9,056	100,006	11,043,065
DK	Denmark	25,386	284,040	11,188,844
CZ	Czech Republic	32,349	368,659	11,396,303
GR	Greece	26,004	302,150	11,619,366
FR	France	215,029	2,833,064	13,175,265
ES	Spain	125,845	1,768,816	14,055,513
SE	Sweden	24,019	522,849	21,768,142
PT	Portugal	10,960	310,651	28,344,069
AT	Austria	13,844	432,424	31,235,481
IE	Ireland	10,826	343,682	31,745,982
IT	Italy	68,697	2,303,108	33,525,598
DE	Germany	121,737	4,134,668	33,963,939
SI	Slovenia	1,706	69,358	40,655,334
GB	United Kingdom	61,144	2,905,392	47,517,205
NO	Norway	7,124	377,100	52,933,745
BE	Belgium	8,296	529,289	63,800,506
NL	Netherlands	12,367	907,619	73,390,394
LU	Luxembourg	620	63,549	102,498,387
CH	Switzerland	4,213	514,162	122,041,775
MT	Malta	99	18,404	185,898,990
SM	San Marino	10	2,093	209,300,000
IS	Iceland	70	17,846	254,942,857

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.