Forest area in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Forest area was 357,552 sq. km in 2023. ▬ Flat
Forest area in Papua New Guinea, 1990–2023
Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in sq. km.
Analysis
Papua New Guinea recorded 357,552 sq. km for forest area in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 34 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.1% on the previous year and down 0.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in Papua New Guinea peaked at 363,997 sq. km in 1990 and was at its lowest, 357,552 sq. km, in 2023.
Papua New Guinea ranks 19th of 214 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 363,449 sq. km | 362,901 sq. km | 363,997 sq. km | 10 |
| 2000s | 362,334 sq. km | 361,888 sq. km | 362,780 sq. km | 10 |
| 2010s | 360,368 sq. km | 358,893 sq. km | 361,789 sq. km | 10 |
| 2020s | 358,055 sq. km | 357,552 sq. km | 358,558 sq. km | 4 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
More agriculture & rural data for Papua New Guinea
- Agricultural raw materials exports 2.6% (2023)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.5% (2023)
- Rural population 84.2% (2025)
- Rural population growth 1.3% (2025)
- Rural population 9.06 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 17.0% (2024)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 5.24 billion current US$ (2024)
- Land under cereal production 3,910 hectares (2023)
- Cereal yield 4,787 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal production 18,720 metric tons (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in Papua New Guinea?
- Forest area in Papua New Guinea was 357,552 sq. km in 2023, according to FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
- What is the highest forest area recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 363,997 sq. km in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 357,552 sq. km in 2023.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for forest area?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 19th out of 214 countries with data for 2023.
- Is forest area rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea 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.