Land

Land is the foundation of jobs, cultures, and economies worldwide, supporting livelihoods, development, and vital biodiversity.

As the global population rises, demand for land is intensifying—driven by rapid urbanization and the need for more agricultural production. Yet, land rights remain insecure for many. Women face particular challenges in accessing and controlling land, increasing their vulnerability.

Globally, 1.1 billion people fear losing their land.

Half of transition minerals for net zero emissions are found on or near Indigenous Peoples’ lands.

Only half of Indigenous Peoples’ land rights are formally recognized.

Secure land tenure is essential for food security, economic growth, and sustainable development. Legal recognition of land rights encourages investment and responsible management, benefiting both people and the environment. Effective land markets and digital land administration systems further support growth, improve services, and enhance access to spatial data.

Land access is also critical for infrastructure and climate action. Major projects require significant land resources, and half of all climate actions under the Paris Agreement depend on land management. Secure rights empower communities, reduce vulnerability, and enable balanced spatial planning that protects social and environmental values.

Indigenous Peoples’ lands are especially important, containing half of the transition minerals needed for net zero emissions and a third of key biodiversity areas. However, only half of Indigenous land rights are formally recognized, making protection of these rights vital for justice, conservation, and sustainable management.

Rising demand, insecure tenure, and competing land needs pose serious challenges. Achieving land tenure security for all is essential for ending poverty and ensuring a livable planet.

As the world’s largest financier of land tenure security, land administration, and land management, the World Bank is investing $2.9 billion in loans, technical assistance and analytics for improving land rights and access across 45 countries.

Our projects support land reforms and administration, spatial data and planning, and property markets. Digitalization, inclusion, and gender equality are core crosscutting themes. Our land program focuses on four key areas:

1. Land Tenure Security: Strengthening land policies, laws, registration, and regularization to improve the land tenure security of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and public and private owners
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2. Women’s Land Rights: Improving women's access to land ownership and control, advancing the global Stand for Her Land Campaign
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3. Land and Geospatial System Digitalization: Digitizing and integrating geospatial data, land and building records, development plans, property valuation, and taxation systems
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4. Land Use and Access: Supporting the planning, regularization, and management of land, including delivering planned, serviced land for housing, infrastructure, energy, and climate action.

Our ambitious targets for the next five years include ensuring greater tenure security for 100 million people, including 40 million women; developing climate-sensitive land use plans in hundreds of urban areas; and improving land administration and access in 20 countries.

The World Bank Group is driving transformative land reforms across several countries, strengthening land systems, boosting revenues, and expanding tenure security.

• In Colombia, support for six pilot municipalities has streamlined cadaster procedures and standardized tax management, resulting in a 35 percent average increase in property tax revenues and up to 150 percent growth between 2021 and 2023. These reforms also reduced municipal dependence on central government resources by 24 percent from 2019 to 2023. In Bogota, annual cadaster updates since 2010 have increased the number of registered properties by 25 percent, tripled property tax revenue to $1.1 billion, and lowered the cost of updating cadasters from $135 to $10 per parcel.
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• In Côte D’Ivoire, World Bank assistance unlocked rural land registration, delivering five times as many land records in five years as in the previous two decades. This strengthened tenure security—especially for women—improved trust in government services, reduced land conflicts, and promoted sustainable management. The project laid the foundation for a new operation to create 4,000 jobs (30 percent for women) and connect 1.4 million people to digital land registration services.
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• Indonesia’s land registration program, supported by World Bank financing, has registered over 8 million parcels—42 percent to women—benefiting 30 million people. Over the past decade, more than 80 million new parcels have been registered, creating 38,000 jobs and multiplying private surveying firms twelvefold. A follow-up project will register land rights for 11 million more people and connect nearly 15 million to digital property markets.
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• In Türkiye, the World Bank helped digitize 14.5 million land parcels, benefiting 36 million people and hundreds of institutions. The digital cadaster uses advanced 3D modeling for urban and disaster risk management.

• Land 2030 Global Partnership
• Stand For Her Land Campaign