Forest area in World
World: Forest area was 31.1% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Forest area in World, 1992–2023
Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in % of land area.
Analysis
In 2023, forest area in World stood at 31.1%. That is the lowest value across all 32 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.1% on the previous year and down 1.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in World peaked at 33.0% in 1992 and was at its lowest, 31.1%, in 2023.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 32 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 32.7% | 32.5% | 33.0% | 8 |
| 2000s | 32.2% | 32.0% | 32.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 31.5% | 31.2% | 31.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 31.1% | 31.1% | 31.2% | 4 |
More agriculture & rural data for World
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.2% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.2% (2024)
- Rural population 42.2% (2025)
- Rural population growth 0.3% (2025)
- Rural population 3.46 billion (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 4.0% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 4.75 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 415.70 million hectares (2024)
- Cereal yield 3,955 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal production 1.64 billion metric tons (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in World?
- Forest area in World was 31.1% in 2023, according to FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
- What is the highest forest area recorded in World?
- The highest recorded value was 33.0% in 1992.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in World?
- The lowest recorded value was 31.1% in 2023.
- Is forest area rising or falling in World?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this World 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 — 32 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.