Forest area in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: Forest area was 24,757 sq. km in 2023. ▼ Falling
Forest area in Sierra Leone, 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 Sierra Leone is 24,757 sq. km, measured in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 34 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.8% on the previous year and down 7.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in Sierra Leone peaked at 31,267 sq. km in 1990 and was at its lowest, 24,757 sq. km, in 2023.
Sierra Leone ranks 98th of 214 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 34 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 30,379 sq. km | 29,492 sq. km | 31,267 sq. km | 10 |
| 2000s | 28,407 sq. km | 27,519 sq. km | 29,294 sq. km | 10 |
| 2010s | 26,434 sq. km | 25,546 sq. km | 27,322 sq. km | 10 |
| 2020s | 25,053 sq. km | 24,757 sq. km | 25,349 sq. km | 4 |
Countries ranked near Sierra Leone
- 95 Czechia 26,825 sq. km compare
- 96 Solomon Islands 25,208 sq. km compare
- 97 Cote d'Ivoire 24,980 sq. km compare
- 99 Estonia 24,384 sq. km compare
- 100 Equatorial Guinea 24,233 sq. km compare
- 101 Uganda 22,141 sq. km compare
More agriculture & rural data for Sierra Leone
- Agricultural raw materials exports 9.4% (2018)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.6% (2018)
- Rural population 54.1% (2025)
- Rural population growth 1.0% (2025)
- Rural population 4.77 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 29.5% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 2.20 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 1.05 million hectares (2023)
- Cereal yield 1,470 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal production 1.54 million metric tons (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in Sierra Leone?
- Forest area in Sierra Leone was 24,757 sq. km in 2023, according to FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
- What is the highest forest area recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The highest recorded value was 31,267 sq. km in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in Sierra Leone?
- The lowest recorded value was 24,757 sq. km in 2023.
- How does Sierra Leone rank for forest area?
- Sierra Leone ranks 98th out of 214 countries with data for 2023.
- Is forest area rising or falling in Sierra Leone?
- Over the last ten years it is down 7.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sierra Leone 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.