World › Indicators › Forest area
Forest area
212 countries, 2023.
Unit: % of land area.
First in the ranking
94.4 %
Median country
31.2 %
half above, half below
World
31.1 %
World Bank aggregate
Range
0.0 to 94.4
Monaco - Suriname
How to read it
Across 212 countries worldwide, the highest value is in Suriname (94.4 %) and the lowest in Monaco (0.0 %).
The median country is at 31.2 %: half are above, half below.
For the world as a whole, the value fell from 32.8 % in 1994 to 31.1 % in 2023.
Forest area (% of land area) is the share of total land area that is under natural or planted stands of trees of at least 5 meters in situ, whether productive or not, and excludes tree stands in agricultural production systems (for example, in fruit plantations and agroforestry systems) and trees in urban parks and gardens.
Compare selected countries ·
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Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), uri: https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/RL, publisher: Food and Agriculture… · via World Bank WDI (AG.LND.FRST.ZS) ·
licence
Ranking of countries
2023
Biggest changes, 2013-2023
change in percentage points · 212 countries
Continents over time
median country of each continent
Forest area - continent medians
%
10
20
30
40
50
60
1990
Africa: 27.51
Asia: 17.09
Europe: 27.28
North America: 38.85
South America: 58.77
Oceania: 39.46 1991
Africa: 27.45
Asia: 17.25
Europe: 27.35
North America: 38.84
South America: 58.5
Oceania: 45.5 1992
Africa: 27.4
Asia: 12.68
Europe: 29.12
North America: 38.84
South America: 58.24
Oceania: 45.54 1993
Africa: 25.77
Asia: 12.67
Europe: 29.76
North America: 39.79
South America: 57.98
Oceania: 45.58 1994
Africa: 25.72
Asia: 12.66
Europe: 30.25
North America: 41.02
South America: 57.71
Oceania: 45.61 1995
Africa: 25.67
Asia: 12.65
Europe: 30.29
North America: 41.95
South America: 57.45
Oceania: 45.65 1996
Africa: 25.56
Asia: 12.64
Europe: 30.33
North America: 41.41
South America: 57.19
Oceania: 45.69 1997
Africa: 25.38
Asia: 12.63
Europe: 30.38
North America: 40.88
South America: 56.92
Oceania: 45.72 1998
Africa: 25.2
Asia: 12.66
Europe: 30.42
North America: 40.35
South America: 56.66
Oceania: 45.76 1999
Africa: 25.03
Asia: 12.7
Europe: 30.46
North America: 40.05
South America: 56.4
Oceania: 45.8 2000
Africa: 24.85
Asia: 12.73
Europe: 30.51
North America: 40.83
South America: 56.13
Oceania: 45.83 2001
Africa: 24.73
Asia: 12.75
Europe: 30.83
North America: 41.04
South America: 55.95
Oceania: 45.84 2002
Africa: 24.61
Asia: 12.78
Europe: 31.69
North America: 41.25
South America: 55.75
Oceania: 45.85 2003
Africa: 24.49
Asia: 12.8
Europe: 32.03
North America: 41.45
South America: 55.23
Oceania: 45.85 2004
Africa: 24.37
Asia: 12.82
Europe: 32.36
North America: 40.84
South America: 54.7
Oceania: 45.86 2005
Africa: 24.26
Asia: 12.84
Europe: 32.63
North America: 39.83
South America: 54.33
Oceania: 45.87 2006
Africa: 24.14
Asia: 12.87
Europe: 32.65
North America: 38.83
South America: 54.1
Oceania: 45.87 2007
Africa: 24.02
Asia: 12.89
Europe: 32.67
North America: 38.76
South America: 53.86
Oceania: 45.88 2008
Africa: 23.9
Asia: 12.91
Europe: 32.69
North America: 38.75
South America: 53.63
Oceania: 45.89 2009
Africa: 23.78
Asia: 12.94
Europe: 32.71
North America: 38.74
South America: 53.39
Oceania: 45.89 2010
Africa: 23.66
Asia: 12.96
Europe: 32.73
North America: 38.74
South America: 53.16
Oceania: 45.9 2011
Africa: 23.54
Asia: 13.04
Europe: 32.74
North America: 34.43
South America: 52.98
Oceania: 45.89 2012
Africa: 22.11
Asia: 13.13
Europe: 32.75
North America: 34.27
South America: 52.8
Oceania: 45.89 2013
Africa: 22.07
Asia: 13.21
Europe: 32.72
North America: 34.15
South America: 52.63
Oceania: 45.88 2014
Africa: 22.03
Asia: 13.29
Europe: 32.72
North America: 34.12
South America: 52.45
Oceania: 45.93 2015
Africa: 21.99
Asia: 13.38
Europe: 32.73
North America: 34.09
South America: 52.27
Oceania: 46.3 2016
Africa: 21.95
Asia: 13.47
Europe: 32.69
North America: 34.05
South America: 52.06
Oceania: 51.85 2017
Africa: 21.91
Asia: 13.55
Europe: 32.68
North America: 34.02
South America: 51.87
Oceania: 51.85 2018
Africa: 21.88
Asia: 13.65
Europe: 32.68
North America: 33.99
South America: 51.69
Oceania: 51.85 2019
Africa: 21.84
Asia: 13.75
Europe: 32.68
North America: 33.96
South America: 51.52
Oceania: 51.85 2020
Africa: 21.8
Asia: 13.85
Europe: 32.68
North America: 33.96
South America: 51.37
Oceania: 51.85 2021
Africa: 21.76
Asia: 13.95
Europe: 32.68
North America: 33.96
South America: 51.21
Oceania: 51.85 2022
Africa: 21.72
Asia: 14.05
Europe: 32.71
North America: 33.96
South America: 51.05
Oceania: 51.85 2023
Africa: 21.68
Asia: 14.15
Europe: 32.89
North America: 33.96
South America: 50.89
Oceania: 51.85 1990
2000
2005
2010
2015
2023
By continent
median country
Tick a country in the table to add it to the chart above, up to six at a time. The ranking
uses the latest year for which at least half of the countries have a value; countries
without a value that year are not listed.
