Acres to Hectares Calculator

How to Convert Acres to Hectares

The conversion between acres and hectares is straightforward: multiply the number of acres by 0.404686 to get hectares. To convert in the opposite direction, multiply hectares by 2.47105.

Hectares = Acres × 0.404686
Acres = Hectares × 2.47105

Example: Convert 50 acres to hectares:

50 × 0.404686 = 20.234 hectares

The Full Conversion Chain: Acres to All Units

Land area can be expressed in many different units. Here is the complete conversion chain from 1 acre:

• 1 acre = 0.404686 hectares (ha)
• 1 acre = 4,046.86 square metres (m²)
• 1 acre = 43,560 square feet (ft²)
• 1 acre = 4,840 square yards (yd²)
• 1 acre = 0.0015625 square miles
• 1 acre = 160 square rods (perches)
• 1 acre = 0.404686 × 10,000 = 40,468.6 square decimetres

UK Land Area: Acres vs Hectares in Practice

The United Kingdom presents a fascinating dual-system approach to land measurement. Land Registry documents, DEFRA agricultural surveys, and planning applications all use hectares and square metres as the official metric units. However, the British countryside runs on acres. Rural property listings, agricultural land sales, shooting estates, and horse paddocks are almost universally advertised in acres.

UK Farm Size Context

According to the DEFRA Farm Structure Survey, the agricultural landscape of the UK breaks down as follows:

• Average UK farm: approximately 87 hectares (215 acres)
• Small farm (under 20 ha / 49 acres): accounts for ~50% of UK farms by number but only ~5% of land
• Large farm (100+ ha / 247+ acres): accounts for ~15% of farms but ~65% of farmland
• Largest UK landowner: Forestry Commission with approx. 900,000 hectares (2.2 million acres)
• UK total agricultural land: approximately 17.4 million hectares (43 million acres)

How Big is 1 Acre? Real-World Comparisons

Understanding the physical size of an acre helps enormously when evaluating land measurements:

• Roughly the area of a standard football pitch (an FA-standard pitch is 0.65–0.80 ha, so 1 acre ≈ 0.76 football pitches)
• About the size of a large garden centre
• Equivalent to a square with sides of approximately 63.6 metres
• Roughly 16 average UK detached houses (with gardens) combined
• A typical UK village green is often around 0.5 to 2 acres

Conversion Table: 1 to 100 Acres

The following reference table covers the most commonly encountered land areas in UK rural property and agriculture, from small paddocks to large estates. Key landmark sizes are highlighted.

History of the Acre: Why the UK Still Uses It

The acre is one of the oldest units of land measurement still in everyday use. Its name derives from the Old English "æcer," meaning open field. Historically, an acre was defined as the amount of land that a yoke of oxen could plough in a single day — roughly a strip of land 1 furlong (220 yards) long and 22 yards wide, giving the familiar 4,840 square yards.

The English acre was standardised in 1878 under the Weights and Measures Act, which fixed it at exactly 4,840 square yards (43,560 square feet). When the UK adopted the metric system in the 1960s and 1970s, acres were retained as a "supplementary unit" for land measurement due to their deep entrenchment in property law, deeds, and rural culture. Unlike many other imperial units (such as the rod, chain, and furlong, which are now rarely used in practice), the acre has proven remarkably resilient.

The Hectare: The Metric Standard

The hectare, introduced as part of the metric system, is defined as 10,000 square metres — equivalent to a square 100 metres on each side. The name comes from the Greek "hekaton" (hundred) combined with "are" (a unit of 100 square metres). The hectare is not technically an SI unit but is accepted for use with the SI system as it appears in the International Bureau of Weights and Measures' table of non-SI units.

In the EU and most of the world, the hectare is the primary unit for measuring agricultural land. EU farm subsidy payments (including historical Common Agricultural Policy payments to UK farmers before Brexit) were calculated per hectare, which is one reason UK farmers need to be comfortable in both acres and hectares.

Post-Brexit Land Measurement in the UK

Since the UK's departure from the European Union, there has been some discussion about reverting to imperial-only measurements in certain contexts. The Agriculture Act 2020, which governs farm support payments under the Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, continues to use hectares for area-based payments, as does the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). Planning applications in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland all specify areas in hectares and square metres.

Using This Acres to Hectares Calculator

This calculator supports four bidirectional input modes:

• Acres input: Converts to hectares, square metres, square feet, and square miles simultaneously
• Hectares input: Converts to acres and all other units
• Square metres input: Converts to acres and hectares
• Square miles input: Converts to acres and hectares

All conversions use exact conversion factors: 1 acre = 4,046.8564224 m² (exact), 1 hectare = 10,000 m² (exact). Results are displayed to appropriate decimal places for each unit.

Common UK Land Areas for Reference

• Wembley Stadium footprint: approx. 5 acres (2 ha)
• Buckingham Palace gardens: 39 acres (15.8 ha)
• Hyde Park, London: 350 acres (142 ha)
• Lake Windermere: 3,700 acres (1,497 ha)
• New Forest National Park: 574,000 acres (232,000 ha)
• UK total land area: approx. 60 million acres (24.3 million ha)