Forestland — Area in Africa
Africa: Forestland — Area was 662,630 1000 ha in 2025. ▼ Falling
Forestland — Area in Africa, 1990–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.
Analysis
In 2025, forestland — area in Africa stood at 662,630 1000 ha. That is the lowest value across all 36 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.4% on the previous year and down 4.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forestland — area in Africa peaked at 779,536 1000 ha in 1990 and was at its lowest, 662,630 1000 ha, in 2025.
That places Africa 4th out of 46 groups with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 36 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 764,785 1000 ha | 750,035 1000 ha | 779,536 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 731,519 1000 ha | 716,281 1000 ha | 746,757 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 695,359 1000 ha | 679,935 1000 ha | 712,895 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 669,745 1000 ha | 662,630 1000 ha | 676,859 1000 ha | 6 |
Countries ranked near Africa
- 1 OECD 1.12 million 1000 ha compare
- 2 Russian Federation 832,630 1000 ha compare
- 3 Brazil 486,087 1000 ha compare
- 4 Canada 368,819 1000 ha compare
- 5 China, People's Republic of 227,153 1000 ha compare
- 5 China, mainland 227,153 1000 ha compare
- 7 Australia and New Zealand 143,865 1000 ha 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 forestland — area in Africa?
- Forestland — area in Africa was 662,630 1000 ha in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest forestland — area recorded in Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 779,536 1000 ha in 1990.
- What is the lowest forestland — area recorded in Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 662,630 1000 ha in 2025.
- How does Africa rank for forestland — area?
- Africa ranks 4th out of 46 groups with data for 2025.
- Is forestland — area rising or falling in Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.3%. 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 Forestland — Area. 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 domain on Emissions from Forests consists of CO2 emissions and removals corresponding to forest carbon stock changes (aboveground and belowground living biomass). Estimates are computed following the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC, 2006).