Forest area in Madagascar
Madagascar: Forest area was 123,902 sq. km in 2023. ▼ Falling
Forest area in Madagascar, 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 Madagascar is 123,902 sq. km, measured in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 34 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 Madagascar peaked at 136,934 sq. km in 1990 and was at its lowest, 123,902 sq. km, in 2023.
That places Madagascar 48th out of 214 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 34 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 133,952 sq. km | 130,969 sq. km | 136,934 sq. km | 10 |
| 2000s | 128,198 sq. km | 126,088 sq. km | 130,307 sq. km | 10 |
| 2010s | 125,025 sq. km | 124,430 sq. km | 125,620 sq. km | 10 |
| 2020s | 124,100 sq. km | 123,902 sq. km | 124,298 sq. km | 4 |
Countries ranked near Madagascar
More agriculture & rural data for Madagascar
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.6% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.3% (2024)
- Rural population 67.1% (2025)
- Rural population growth 1.7% (2025)
- Rural population 21.97 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 21.7% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 4.26 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 2.22 million hectares (2023)
- Cereal yield 2,426 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal production 5.39 million metric tons (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in Madagascar?
- Forest area in Madagascar was 123,902 sq. km in 2023, according to FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
- What is the highest forest area recorded in Madagascar?
- The highest recorded value was 136,934 sq. km in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in Madagascar?
- The lowest recorded value was 123,902 sq. km in 2023.
- How does Madagascar rank for forest area?
- Madagascar ranks 48th out of 214 countries with data for 2023.
- Is forest area rising or falling in Madagascar?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Madagascar 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.