Forest area in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Forest area was 21,035 sq. km in 2023. ▼ Falling
Forest area in Sri Lanka, 1990–2023
Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in sq. km.
Analysis
In 2023, forest area in Sri Lanka stood at 21,035 sq. km. 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 0.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in Sri Lanka peaked at 23,503 sq. km in 1990 and was at its lowest, 21,035 sq. km, in 2023.
That places Sri Lanka 106th out of 214 countries with data for 2023, putting it 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 | 22,676 sq. km | 21,848 sq. km | 23,503 sq. km | 10 |
| 2000s | 21,382 sq. km | 21,099 sq. km | 21,664 sq. km | 10 |
| 2010s | 21,181 sq. km | 21,036 sq. km | 21,288 sq. km | 10 |
| 2020s | 21,083 sq. km | 21,035 sq. km | 21,130 sq. km | 4 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More agriculture & rural data for Sri Lanka
- Agricultural raw materials exports 2.7% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.9% (2024)
- Rural population 79.5% (2025)
- Rural population growth -0.9% (2025)
- Rural population 17.31 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 8.4% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 9.10 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 1.25 million hectares (2023)
- Cereal yield 3,804 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal production 4.74 million metric tons (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in Sri Lanka?
- Forest area in Sri Lanka was 21,035 sq. km in 2023, according to FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
- What is the highest forest area recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 23,503 sq. km in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 21,035 sq. km in 2023.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for forest area?
- Sri Lanka ranks 106th out of 214 countries with data for 2023.
- Is forest area rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sri Lanka 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.