Forest area in South Africa
South Africa: Forest area was 169,409 sq. km in 2023. ▼ Falling
Forest area in South Africa, 1990–2023
Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in sq. km.
Analysis
In 2023, forest area in South Africa stood at 169,409 sq. km. 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 2.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in South Africa peaked at 181,421 sq. km in 1990 and was at its lowest, 169,409 sq. km, in 2023.
South Africa ranks 39th of 214 countries on this measure, 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 | 179,783 sq. km | 178,145 sq. km | 181,421 sq. km | 10 |
| 2000s | 176,143 sq. km | 174,505 sq. km | 177,781 sq. km | 10 |
| 2010s | 172,503 sq. km | 170,865 sq. km | 174,141 sq. km | 10 |
| 2020s | 169,955 sq. km | 169,409 sq. km | 170,501 sq. km | 4 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More agriculture & rural data for South Africa
- Agricultural raw materials exports 2.0% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.0% (2025)
- Rural population 36.2% (2025)
- Rural population growth 0.8% (2025)
- Rural population 23.43 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 2.8% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 12.08 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 3.36 million hectares (2024)
- Cereal yield 4,562 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal production 15.31 million metric tons (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in South Africa?
- Forest area in South Africa was 169,409 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 Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 181,421 sq. km in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 169,409 sq. km in 2023.
- How does South Africa rank for forest area?
- South Africa ranks 39th out of 214 countries with data for 2023.
- Is forest area rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 2.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Africa 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.