Forest area in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe: Forest area was 173,064 sq. km in 2023. ▼ Falling
Forest area in Zimbabwe, 1990–2023
Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in sq. km.
Analysis
In 2023, forest area in Zimbabwe stood at 173,064 sq. km. That is the lowest value across all 34 years on record.
The figure is down 0.3% on the previous year and down 2.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in Zimbabwe peaked at 188,267 sq. km in 1990 and was at its lowest, 173,064 sq. km, in 2023.
That places Zimbabwe 38th out of 214 countries with data for 2023, putting it 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 | 186,194 sq. km | 184,120 sq. km | 188,267 sq. km | 10 |
| 2000s | 181,587 sq. km | 179,514 sq. km | 183,660 sq. km | 10 |
| 2010s | 176,980 sq. km | 174,906 sq. km | 179,053 sq. km | 10 |
| 2020s | 173,755 sq. km | 173,064 sq. km | 174,446 sq. km | 4 |
Countries ranked near Zimbabwe
More agriculture & rural data for Zimbabwe
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.9% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.3% (2024)
- Rural population 59.5% (2025)
- Rural population growth 0.9% (2025)
- Rural population 10.09 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 9.5% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 4.85 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 1.57 million hectares (2023)
- Cereal yield 743.9 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal production 1.17 million metric tons (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in Zimbabwe?
- Forest area in Zimbabwe was 173,064 sq. km in 2023, according to FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
- What is the highest forest area recorded in Zimbabwe?
- The highest recorded value was 188,267 sq. km in 1990.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in Zimbabwe?
- The lowest recorded value was 173,064 sq. km in 2023.
- How does Zimbabwe rank for forest area?
- Zimbabwe ranks 38th out of 214 countries with data for 2023.
- Is forest area rising or falling in Zimbabwe?
- Over the last ten years it is down 2.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Zimbabwe 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.