Phosphorus (P) availability in soils limits crop yields in many regions of the world, while excess of soil P triggers aquatic eutrophication in other regions. Numerous processes drive the global spatial distribution of P in agricultural soils, but their relative roles remain unclear. Here, we combined several global datasets describing these drivers with a soil P dynamics model to simulate the distribution of P in agricultural soils and to assess the contributions of the different drivers at the global scale. We analyzed both the labile inorganic P (P<
sub>
ILAB<
/sub>
), a proxy of the pool involved in plant nutrition and the total soil P (P<
sub>
TOT<
/sub>
). We found that the soil biogeochemical background (BIOG) and farming practices (FARM) were the main drivers of the spatial variability in cropland soil P content but that their contribution varied between P<
sub>
TOT<
/sub>
vs P<
sub>
ILAB<
/sub>
. Indeed, 97% of the P<
sub>
TOT<
/sub>
spatial variability could be explained by BIOG, while BIOG and FARM explained 41% and 58% of P<
sub>
ILAB<
/sub>
spatial variability, respectively. Other drivers such as climate, soil erosion, atmospheric P deposition and soil buffering capacity made only very small contribution. Lastly, our study is a promising approach to investigate the potential effect of P as a limiting factor for agricultural ecosystems and for global food production. Additionally, we quantified the anthropogenic perturbation of P cycle and demonstrated how the different drivers are combined to explain the global distribution of agricultural soil P.