Forest area in South Korea
South Korea: Forest area was 64.1% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Forest area in South Korea, 1990–2023
Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in % of land area.
Analysis
In 2023, forest area in South Korea stood at 64.1%. That is the lowest value across all 34 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.2% on the previous year and down 1.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in South Korea peaked at 67.9% in 1990 and was at its lowest, 64.1%, in 2023.
South Korea ranks 21st of 214 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 34 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 67.6% | 67.2% | 67.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 66.5% | 65.9% | 67.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 65.1% | 64.5% | 65.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 64.3% | 64.1% | 64.4% | 4 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More agriculture & rural data for South Korea
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.8% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.9% (2024)
- Rural population 18.8% (2025)
- Rural population growth -0.2% (2025)
- Rural population 9.73 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 1.5% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 27.42 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 776,099 hectares (2023)
- Cereal yield 6,615 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal production 5.13 million metric tons (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in South Korea?
- Forest area in South Korea was 64.1% in 2023, according to FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
- What is the highest forest area recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 67.9% in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 64.1% in 2023.
- How does South Korea rank for forest area?
- South Korea ranks 21st out of 214 countries with data for 2023.
- Is forest area rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), published as part of Forest area (% of land area). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Forest area (% of land area) is the share of total land area that is under natural or planted stands of trees of at least 5 meters in situ, whether productive or not, and excludes tree stands in agricultural production systems (for example, in fruit plantations and agroforestry systems) and trees in urban parks and gardens.