Forest land — Carbon stock in living biomass in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa: Forest land — Carbon stock in living biomass was 56,286 million t in 2025. ▼ Falling
Forest land — Carbon stock in living biomass in Sub-Saharan Africa, 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 Sub-Saharan Africa is 56,286 million t, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 36 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.2% on the previous year and down 3.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest land — carbon stock in living biomass in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 64,854 million t in 1990 and was at its lowest, 56,286 million t, in 2025.
Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 8th 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 Sub-Saharan Africa, year by year
| Year | million t | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 64,854 million t | — |
| 1991 | 64,585 million t | -0.4% |
| 1992 | 64,316 million t | -0.4% |
| 1993 | 64,047 million t | -0.4% |
| 1994 | 63,778 million t | -0.4% |
| 1995 | 63,509 million t | -0.4% |
| 1996 | 63,240 million t | -0.4% |
| 1997 | 62,971 million t | -0.4% |
| 1998 | 62,702 million t | -0.4% |
| 1999 | 62,433 million t | -0.4% |
| 2000 | 62,164 million t | -0.4% |
| 2001 | 61,906 million t | -0.4% |
| 2002 | 61,649 million t | -0.4% |
| 2003 | 61,391 million t | -0.4% |
| 2004 | 61,134 million t | -0.4% |
| 2005 | 60,876 million t | -0.4% |
| 2006 | 60,619 million t | -0.4% |
| 2007 | 60,361 million t | -0.4% |
| 2008 | 60,104 million t | -0.4% |
| 2009 | 59,846 million t | -0.4% |
| 2010 | 59,588 million t | -0.4% |
| 2011 | 59,257 million t | -0.6% |
| 2012 | 59,305 million t | +0.1% |
| 2013 | 58,974 million t | -0.6% |
| 2014 | 58,643 million t | -0.6% |
| 2015 | 58,312 million t | -0.6% |
| 2016 | 58,045 million t | -0.5% |
| 2017 | 57,778 million t | -0.5% |
| 2018 | 57,510 million t | -0.5% |
| 2019 | 57,243 million t | -0.5% |
| 2020 | 56,975 million t | -0.5% |
| 2021 | 56,837 million t | -0.2% |
| 2022 | 56,699 million t | -0.2% |
| 2023 | 56,562 million t | -0.2% |
| 2024 | 56,424 million t | -0.2% |
| 2025 | 56,286 million t | -0.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 63,643 million t | 62,433 million t | 64,854 million t | 10 |
| 2000s | 61,005 million t | 59,846 million t | 62,164 million t | 10 |
| 2010s | 58,466 million t | 57,243 million t | 59,588 million t | 10 |
| 2020s | 56,630 million t | 56,286 million t | 56,975 million t | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa
More climate change data for Sub-Saharan Africa
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Indirect emissions (N2O that) 6.71 kt (2050)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Indirect emissions (N2O that leaches) 15.1 kt (2050)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Synthetic fertilizers 67.1 kt (2050)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Synthetic fertilizers 88.91 kt (2050)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Synthetic fertilizers 4.27 billion kg (2050)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Nitrogen fertilizer content applied 427.00 million kg (2050)
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Nitrogen fertilizer content applied 1.28 billion kg (2050)
- All Crops — Burning crop residues 137.43 kt (2050)
- All Crops — Burning crop residues 3.56 kt (2050)
- All Crops — Burning crop residues 50.90 million t (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest land — carbon stock in living biomass in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Forest land — carbon stock in living biomass in Sub-Saharan Africa was 56,286 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 Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 64,854 million t in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest land — carbon stock in living biomass recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 56,286 million t in 2025.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for forest land — carbon stock in living biomass?
- Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 8th out of 31 groups with data for 2025.
- Is forest land — carbon stock in living biomass rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sub-Saharan 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.