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Dataset · FAO

Forest Area

34 years, 1990–2023 · 213 countries

Forest area is the share of a country’s land that is forest, as measured by the FAO. It is the headline number in every deforestation debate — and the one most often quoted without its context.

This site holds every year from 1990 to 2023, read from FAO’s own data and stored exactly as published.

Open Forest Area, 2023Download all 34 · CSVSee it charted by country →
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Forest Area · the file

Newest
Forest Area, 2023
Held
34 years · 7,061 rows
Licence
CC BY 4.0

0134 years

Every year

Every year comes from FAO’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. Each opens the full table for that year; each downloads as a CSV.

1990bar height: countries covered, up to 2142023
Every year of Forest Area held on this site, newest first, with its download files.
YearCountriesChangeReadDownload
Forest Area, 2023Newest213±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2022213−1September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2021214±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2020214±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2019214±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2018214±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2017214±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2016214±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2015214±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2014214±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2013214±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2012214+2September 6, 2026CSV
Show all 34 years
YearCountriesChangeReadDownload
Forest Area, 2011212+3September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2010209±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2009209±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2008209±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2007209±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2006209+2September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2005207±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2004207±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2003207±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2002207±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2001207±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 2000207+2September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 1999205±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 1998205±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 1997205±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 1996205±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 1995205±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 1994205±0September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 1993205+4September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 1992201+19September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 1991182+4September 6, 2026CSV
Forest Area, 1990178—September 6, 2026CSV

Every year in one file, one row per country per year: forest-area-all-editions-nations-inquiry.csv

023 columns

What’s in the file

Every column, what it holds, how it is stored and what its values look like — what a reader needs before opening the file.

Every column in the newest file of Forest Area: what it holds, how it is stored, and its range.
ColumnWhat it holdsStored asRange, 2023DistinctEmptySpread
CountrycountryNameThe country’s name, as this file spells it.Text—2130
ISO Codecountry_codeIdentifierThe ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code, added by this site. Every table here joins on it.Text · 3 letters—2130
Forest area (% of land area)forest_areaHeadlineThe headline figure: Forest area (% of land area).Number · up to 18 decimals0.0004 share it94.448Surinamemiddle 31.0802100

Profiled from the newest file. Range: the lowest and highest value, with the country holding it when only one does. Spread: countries in ten equal steps from lowest to highest. Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score.

03214 countries across every year

Who is covered

How many countries each year holds, continent by continent, who joined and who left, and which places this site covers that the dataset never has.

All regions
Countries in each year of Forest Area, by continent.
201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Africa545454545454545454545454
Americas464646464646464646464646
Asia484848484848484848484848
Europe474747474747474747474646
Oceania191919191919191919191919
All214214214214214214214214214214213213

The newest 12 of 34 years.

Who joined and who left

  • 2022
    − Channel Islands
  • 2012
    + Sudan+ South Sudan
  • 2011
    + Curaçao+ Saint Martin+ Sint Maarten
  • 2006
    + Montenegro+ Serbia
  • 2000
    + Belgium+ Luxembourg
  • 1993
    + Czechia+ Eritrea+ Ethiopia+ Slovakia
  • 1992
    + Armenia+ Azerbaijan+ Bosnia and Herzegovina+ Belarus+ Estonia+ Georgia+ Croatia+ Kazakhstan+ Kyrgyzstan+ Lithuania+ Latvia+ Moldova+ North Macedonia+ Russia+ Slovenia+ Tajikistan+ Turkmenistan+ Ukraine+ Uzbekistan
  • 1991
    + Micronesia+ Marshall Islands+ Northern Mariana Islands+ Palau

Not in this dataset · 11 places this site covers

FAO gives no figure for these in any year held here. It is the publisher’s choice of scope, and each place’s profile shows what is measured.

AnguillaCook IslandsHong KongKosovoMacauMontserratNiueNorthern CyprusSomalilandTaiwanVatican City

04Provenance

Where it comes from

The path from the publisher to this page, and what was checked and changed on the way.

The site’s method

  1. 1 · Publisher

    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

    fao.org

  2. 2 · Their file

    Forest Area 2023

    AG.LND.FRST.ZS

  3. 3 · Read by this site

    September 6, 2026

    Imported by a script that parses each figure and writes it down unrounded.

  4. 4 · Stored as

    34 files, one per year

    Each downloads as a CSV, or every year together as forest-area-all-editions-nations-inquiry.csv

  5. 5 · Used on

    Its statistic page, and every profile it measures

    /statistics/forest-area

Precision

The headline is stored to 18 decimals, as published.

Rounded by this site

Never. Tables on screen may show fewer decimals; the files never do.

Changed by this site

Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

From FAOSTAT, fetched through the World Bank’s indicator API (AG.LND.FRST.ZS).

05Reuse

Licence and credit

What the publisher’s licence lets you do, what it asks of you, and a credit line and citation ready to copy.

Every publisher’s terms

Licence · checked September 6, 2026

CC BY 4.0

  • Share and redistribute it
  • Adapt it and build on it
  • Use it commercially
  • Credit the publisher
  • Say what you changed

Share, adapt and use commercially. Credit the publisher and say if you changed anything.

A credit line

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Forest Area, via Nations Inquiry.

Cite this dataset

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Forest Area, 1990–2023 [data set]. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/forest-area

The publisher’s own citation: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. FAOSTAT. Rome: FAO.

Plain-language summary, not legal advice. The licence text is what binds.

06Questions

Forest Area: questions and answers

What is the Forest Area?

Forest area is the share of a country’s land that is forest, as measured by the FAO. It is the headline number in every deforestation debate — and the one most often quoted without its context.

Which years of the Forest Area can I download?

All 34, from 1990 to 2023, each as a CSV file, or every year together in one CSV.

Does FAO rank countries on it?

No. FAO publishes values only. The positions shown on this site are derived by ordering the published values, and are labelled as ours.

Can I use it commercially?

Yes, under CC BY 4.0, with credit to FAO. The licence text is linked on this page.

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