Forest area in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa: Forest area was 6.15 million sq. km in 2023. ▼ Falling
Forest area in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1990–2023
Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in sq. km.
Analysis
Sub-Saharan Africa recorded 6.15 million sq. km for forest area in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 34 years on record.
The figure is down 0.6% on the previous year and down 6.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 6.94 million sq. km in 1993 and was at its lowest, 6.15 million sq. km, in 2023.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 34 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 6.83 million sq. km | 6.75 million sq. km | 6.94 million sq. km | 10 |
| 2000s | 6.57 million sq. km | 6.43 million sq. km | 6.72 million sq. km | 10 |
| 2010s | 6.44 million sq. km | 6.31 million sq. km | 6.59 million sq. km | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.21 million sq. km | 6.15 million sq. km | 6.27 million sq. km | 4 |
More agriculture & rural data for Sub-Saharan Africa
- Agricultural raw materials exports 2.6% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.0% (2024)
- Rural population 55.3% (2025)
- Rural population growth 1.5% (2025)
- Rural population 731.42 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 17.9% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 395.96 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 85.37 million hectares (2024)
- Cereal yield 1,453 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal production 124.08 million metric tons (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Forest area in Sub-Saharan Africa was 6.15 million sq. km in 2023, according to FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
- What is the highest forest area recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 6.94 million sq. km in 1993.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.15 million sq. km in 2023.
- Is forest area rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 6.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Sub-Saharan 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.