Forestland — Area in Southern Africa
Southern Africa: Forestland — Area was 47,122 1000 ha in 2025. ▲ Rising
Forestland — Area in Southern Africa, 1990–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 ha.
Analysis
Southern Africa recorded 47,122 1000 ha for forestland — area in 2025. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.2% on the previous year and up 1.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forestland — area in Southern Africa peaked at 47,122 1000 ha in 2025 and was at its lowest, 44,834 1000 ha, in 1990.
That places Southern Africa 24th out of 31 groups with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.
Forestland — Area in Southern Africa, year by year
| Year | 1000 ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 44,834 1000 ha | — |
| 1991 | 44,849 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 44,864 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 44,879 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 44,894 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 44,909 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 44,924 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 44,939 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 44,954 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 44,969 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 44,984 1000 ha | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 45,070 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2002 | 45,155 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2003 | 45,241 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2004 | 45,326 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2005 | 45,411 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2006 | 45,497 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2007 | 45,582 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2008 | 45,668 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2009 | 45,753 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2010 | 45,838 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2011 | 45,924 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 46,009 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2013 | 46,095 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2014 | 46,180 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2015 | 46,266 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2016 | 46,352 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2017 | 46,437 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2018 | 46,523 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2019 | 46,609 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 46,695 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2021 | 46,780 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2022 | 46,866 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2023 | 46,951 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2024 | 47,037 1000 ha | +0.2% |
| 2025 | 47,122 1000 ha | +0.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 44,901 1000 ha | 44,834 1000 ha | 44,969 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 45,369 1000 ha | 44,984 1000 ha | 45,753 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 46,223 1000 ha | 45,838 1000 ha | 46,609 1000 ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 46,909 1000 ha | 46,695 1000 ha | 47,122 1000 ha | 6 |
Countries ranked near Southern Africa
More climate change data for Southern Africa
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 48,717 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 16,474 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 32,243 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 62.17 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 1,152 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 5,709 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 5,306 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 402.74 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 20.02 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 14.38 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forestland — area in Southern Africa?
- Forestland — area in Southern Africa was 47,122 1000 ha in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest forestland — area recorded in Southern Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 47,122 1000 ha in 2025.
- What is the lowest forestland — area recorded in Southern Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 44,834 1000 ha in 1990.
- How does Southern Africa rank for forestland — area?
- Southern Africa ranks 24th out of 31 groups with data for 2025.
- Is forestland — area rising or falling in Southern Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Southern 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).