Forest land — Carbon stock in living biomass in New Zealand
New Zealand: Forest land — Carbon stock in living biomass was 1,531 million t in 2025. ▲ Rising
Forest land — Carbon stock in living biomass in New Zealand, 1990–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in million t.
Analysis
The most recent figure for forest land — carbon stock in living biomass in New Zealand is 1,531 million t, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.2% on the previous year and up 2.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest land — carbon stock in living biomass in New Zealand peaked at 1,531 million t in 2025 and was at its lowest, 1,356 million t, in 1990.
New Zealand ranks 28th of 215 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.
Forest land — Carbon stock in living biomass in New Zealand, year by year
| Year | million t | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 1,356 million t | — |
| 1991 | 1,361 million t | +0.4% |
| 1992 | 1,367 million t | +0.4% |
| 1993 | 1,372 million t | +0.4% |
| 1994 | 1,377 million t | +0.4% |
| 1995 | 1,383 million t | +0.4% |
| 1996 | 1,388 million t | +0.4% |
| 1997 | 1,394 million t | +0.4% |
| 1998 | 1,399 million t | +0.4% |
| 1999 | 1,404 million t | +0.4% |
| 2000 | 1,410 million t | +0.4% |
| 2001 | 1,416 million t | +0.4% |
| 2002 | 1,422 million t | +0.4% |
| 2003 | 1,428 million t | +0.4% |
| 2004 | 1,434 million t | +0.4% |
| 2005 | 1,439 million t | +0.4% |
| 2006 | 1,445 million t | +0.4% |
| 2007 | 1,451 million t | +0.4% |
| 2008 | 1,457 million t | +0.4% |
| 2009 | 1,463 million t | +0.4% |
| 2010 | 1,469 million t | +0.4% |
| 2011 | 1,475 million t | +0.4% |
| 2012 | 1,481 million t | +0.4% |
| 2013 | 1,486 million t | +0.4% |
| 2014 | 1,492 million t | +0.4% |
| 2015 | 1,498 million t | +0.4% |
| 2016 | 1,502 million t | +0.3% |
| 2017 | 1,506 million t | +0.3% |
| 2018 | 1,511 million t | +0.3% |
| 2019 | 1,515 million t | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 1,519 million t | +0.3% |
| 2021 | 1,522 million t | +0.2% |
| 2022 | 1,524 million t | +0.2% |
| 2023 | 1,526 million t | +0.2% |
| 2024 | 1,528 million t | +0.2% |
| 2025 | 1,531 million t | +0.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1,380 million t | 1,356 million t | 1,404 million t | 10 |
| 2000s | 1,436 million t | 1,410 million t | 1,463 million t | 10 |
| 2010s | 1,494 million t | 1,469 million t | 1,515 million t | 10 |
| 2020s | 1,525 million t | 1,519 million t | 1,531 million t | 6 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
- 25 Japan 2,050 million t compare
- 26 Mexico 2,040 million t compare
- 27 French Guiana 1,716 million t compare
- 29 Botswana 1,469 million t compare
- 29 Côte d'Ivoire 367.9 million t compare
- 30 France 1,421 million t compare
- 31 Cabo Verde 0.29 million t compare
- 31 Mozambique 1,420 million t compare
More climate change data for New Zealand
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 46,323 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 11,983 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 34,340 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 45.22 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 1,226 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 694.4 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 691.2 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 3.2 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 2.61 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 0.1143 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest land — carbon stock in living biomass in New Zealand?
- Forest land — carbon stock in living biomass in New Zealand was 1,531 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 New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 1,531 million t in 2025.
- What is the lowest forest land — carbon stock in living biomass recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 1,356 million t in 1990.
- How does New Zealand rank for forest land — carbon stock in living biomass?
- New Zealand ranks 28th out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is forest land — carbon stock in living biomass rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this New Zealand 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.