Forest area in China
China: Forest area was 2.26 million sq. km in 2023. ▲ Rising
Forest area in China, 1990–2023
Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in sq. km.
Analysis
China recorded 2.26 million sq. km for forest area in 2023. That is the highest value across all 34 years on record.
The figure is up 0.8% on the previous year and up 9.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in China peaked at 2.26 million sq. km in 2023 and was at its lowest, 1.57 million sq. km, in 1990.
That places China 5th out of 214 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1.66 million sq. km | 1.57 million sq. km | 1.75 million sq. km | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.88 million sq. km | 1.77 million sq. km | 1.98 million sq. km | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.09 million sq. km | 2.01 million sq. km | 2.18 million sq. km | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.23 million sq. km | 2.20 million sq. km | 2.26 million sq. km | 4 |
Countries ranked near China
More agriculture & rural data for China
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.3% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.7% (2024)
- Rural population 33.7% (2025)
- Rural population growth -1.5% (2025)
- Rural population 473.41 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 6.7% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 1.30 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 99.99 million hectares (2023)
- Cereal yield 6,418 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal production 641.73 million metric tons (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in China?
- Forest area in China was 2.26 million sq. km in 2023, according to FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
- What is the highest forest area recorded in China?
- The highest recorded value was 2.26 million sq. km in 2023.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.57 million sq. km in 1990.
- How does China rank for forest area?
- China ranks 5th out of 214 countries with data for 2023.
- Is forest area rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is up 9.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this China data come from?
- The figures come from FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), published as part of Forest area (sq. km). 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 is land 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.