Forest area in Ireland
Ireland: Forest area was 7,940 sq. km in 2023. ▲ Rising
Forest area in Ireland, 1990–2023
Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in sq. km.
Analysis
The most recent figure for forest area in Ireland is 7,940 sq. km, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 34 years on record.
The figure is up 0.5% on the previous year and up 7.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in Ireland peaked at 7,940 sq. km in 2023 and was at its lowest, 4,616 sq. km, in 1990.
Ireland ranks 130th of 214 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 5,376 sq. km | 4,616 sq. km | 6,135 sq. km | 10 |
| 2000s | 6,709 sq. km | 6,304 sq. km | 7,114 sq. km | 10 |
| 2010s | 7,510 sq. km | 7,204 sq. km | 7,780 sq. km | 10 |
| 2020s | 7,880 sq. km | 7,820 sq. km | 7,940 sq. km | 4 |
Countries ranked near Ireland
More agriculture & rural data for Ireland
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.3% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.5% (2024)
- Rural population 35.4% (2025)
- Rural population growth 1.0% (2025)
- Rural population 1.94 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 1.1% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 7.63 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 258,930 hectares (2024)
- Cereal yield 7,325 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal production 1.90 million metric tons (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in Ireland?
- Forest area in Ireland was 7,940 sq. km in 2023, according to FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
- What is the highest forest area recorded in Ireland?
- The highest recorded value was 7,940 sq. km in 2023.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in Ireland?
- The lowest recorded value was 4,616 sq. km in 1990.
- How does Ireland rank for forest area?
- Ireland ranks 130th out of 214 countries with data for 2023.
- Is forest area rising or falling in Ireland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Ireland 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.