Forest area in South Korea
South Korea: Forest area was 62,570 sq. km in 2023. ▬ Flat
Forest area in South Korea, 1990–2023
Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in sq. km.
Analysis
South Korea recorded 62,570 sq. km for forest area in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 34 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.2% on the previous year and down 1.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in South Korea peaked at 65,510 sq. km in 1990 and was at its lowest, 62,570 sq. km, in 2023.
South Korea ranks 67th of 214 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 65,172 sq. km | 64,835 sq. km | 65,510 sq. km | 10 |
| 2000s | 64,360 sq. km | 63,959 sq. km | 64,760 sq. km | 10 |
| 2010s | 63,418 sq. km | 62,970 sq. km | 63,870 sq. km | 10 |
| 2020s | 62,720 sq. km | 62,570 sq. km | 62,870 sq. km | 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 62,570 sq. km 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 65,510 sq. km in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 62,570 sq. km in 2023.
- How does South Korea rank for forest area?
- South Korea ranks 67th 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 1.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- 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 (sq. km). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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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.