Forest land — Carbon stock in living biomass in Africa
Africa: Forest land — Carbon stock in living biomass was 56,867 million t in 2025. ▼ Falling
Forest land — Carbon stock in living biomass in Africa, 1990–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in million t.
Analysis
In 2025, forest land — carbon stock in living biomass in Africa stood at 56,867 million t. That is the lowest value across all 36 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.3% on the previous year and down 3.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest land — carbon stock in living biomass in Africa peaked at 65,782 million t in 1990 and was at its lowest, 56,867 million t, in 2025.
Africa ranks 7th of 31 groups on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 36 years of available data.
Forest land — Carbon stock in living biomass in Africa, year by year
| Year | million t | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 65,782 million t | — |
| 1991 | 65,516 million t | -0.4% |
| 1992 | 65,249 million t | -0.4% |
| 1993 | 64,983 million t | -0.4% |
| 1994 | 64,716 million t | -0.4% |
| 1995 | 64,450 million t | -0.4% |
| 1996 | 64,183 million t | -0.4% |
| 1997 | 63,917 million t | -0.4% |
| 1998 | 63,650 million t | -0.4% |
| 1999 | 63,384 million t | -0.4% |
| 2000 | 63,117 million t | -0.4% |
| 2001 | 62,861 million t | -0.4% |
| 2002 | 62,605 million t | -0.4% |
| 2003 | 62,349 million t | -0.4% |
| 2004 | 62,092 million t | -0.4% |
| 2005 | 61,836 million t | -0.4% |
| 2006 | 61,580 million t | -0.4% |
| 2007 | 61,324 million t | -0.4% |
| 2008 | 61,068 million t | -0.4% |
| 2009 | 60,812 million t | -0.4% |
| 2010 | 60,556 million t | -0.4% |
| 2011 | 60,224 million t | -0.5% |
| 2012 | 59,892 million t | -0.6% |
| 2013 | 59,560 million t | -0.6% |
| 2014 | 59,228 million t | -0.6% |
| 2015 | 58,896 million t | -0.6% |
| 2016 | 58,643 million t | -0.4% |
| 2017 | 58,389 million t | -0.4% |
| 2018 | 58,135 million t | -0.4% |
| 2019 | 57,882 million t | -0.4% |
| 2020 | 57,628 million t | -0.4% |
| 2021 | 57,476 million t | -0.3% |
| 2022 | 57,324 million t | -0.3% |
| 2023 | 57,171 million t | -0.3% |
| 2024 | 57,019 million t | -0.3% |
| 2025 | 56,867 million t | -0.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 64,583 million t | 63,384 million t | 65,782 million t | 10 |
| 2000s | 61,964 million t | 60,812 million t | 63,117 million t | 10 |
| 2010s | 59,141 million t | 57,882 million t | 60,556 million t | 10 |
| 2020s | 57,248 million t | 56,867 million t | 57,628 million t | 6 |
Countries ranked near Africa
- 4 Canada 20,007 million t compare
- 4 Democratic Republic of the Congo 20,766 million t compare
- 5 Australia and New Zealand 11,290 million t compare
- 6 Indonesia 11,152 million t compare
- 7 China 10,126 million t compare
- 7 China, mainland 10,126 million t compare
- 9 Australia 9,759 million t compare
- 10 Peru 7,827 million t compare
More climate change data for Africa
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 778,093 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 263,963 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 514,131 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 996.09 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 18,362 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 114,526 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 60,368 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 54,158 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 227.81 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 1,934 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest land — carbon stock in living biomass in Africa?
- Forest land — carbon stock in living biomass in Africa was 56,867 million t in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest forest land — carbon stock in living biomass recorded in Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 65,782 million t in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest land — carbon stock in living biomass recorded in Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 56,867 million t in 2025.
- How does Africa rank for forest land — carbon stock in living biomass?
- Africa ranks 7th out of 31 groups with data for 2025.
- Is forest land — carbon stock in living biomass rising or falling in Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of Forest land — Carbon stock in living biomass. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 36 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
The FAOSTAT Land Use domain contains data on twenty-one land use categories and twenty-three categories of irrigation and agricultural practices. Data are available yearly and by country, regional and global levels. The domain includes Land Use Indicators providing information on the percentage share of agricultural and forest land, and their sub-components, including irrigated areas and areas under organic agriculture, within a country land use matrix. Data are available at country, regional and global level, for the following elements: (in percentage) i) Share in Land area; ii) Share in Agricultural land, iii) Share in Cropland; and iv) Share in Forest land; (in ha/pc) v) Area per capita.