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Data for 2018

Tree Cover Loss, 2018

Figures for 2018, as World Resources Institute — Global Forest Watch (data: University of Maryland) published them · stored as published, never rewritten

This is how much tree cover a country lost in a year, in hectares, measured from Landsat satellite images by the University of Maryland and published by Global Forest Watch. It counts every patch where most of the canopy was cleared or died — for farms, logging, mining, roads, fire or storms.

Tree Cover Loss, 2018 covers 210 countries on 2 measures. Russia is highest, at 5,560,431.581; 31 countries share the lowest reading, 0.000. The middle country reads 2,788.961. Against 2017, 185 values changed (63 up, 122 down), the same countries are covered.

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Tree Cover Loss · Data for 2018

HighestRussia

5,560,431.581

Lowest31 countries share it

0.000

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end.

01Values only

The table

Every country and every column of Tree Cover Loss, 2018, as published. The file carries values only, so no position is shown. “=” marks a shared position.

Showing 25 of 210 countries · select a heading to sort

Tree Cover Loss, 2018: every country, as published by World Resources Institute — Global Forest Watch (data: University of Maryland).
RussiaRUSEastern Europe5,560,431.581761,226,509.4
BrazilBRASouth America2,948,392.529519,056,655.7
CanadaCANNorthern America2,142,936.813418,066,874.8
United StatesUSANorthern America2,092,360.696279,375,325.2
DR CongoCODMiddle Africa1,373,826.566199,272,121.1
IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia1,218,733.128160,640,822.2
ChinaCHNEastern Asia569,767.259162,873,594.1
MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia438,009.45529,444,768.4
MadagascarMDGEastern Africa366,620.01317,141,084.1
ColombiaCOLSouth America352,219.12881,854,357.4
Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa324,680.77914,866,947.4
BoliviaBOLSouth America301,917.65264,556,285.1
LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia294,657.80019,118,849.5
SwedenSWENorthern Europe290,151.34827,883,711.6
MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia278,708.43942,863,360.7
FinlandFINNorthern Europe269,954.62621,627,650.4
MexicoMEXCentral America267,178.47753,168,926.1
ParaguayPRYSouth America258,769.27824,273,208.1
AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand250,753.71142,281,440.1
AngolaAGOMiddle Africa242,522.37355,276,134.7
VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia225,177.05416,550,834.6
PeruPERSouth America211,643.25078,063,554.9
LiberiaLBRWestern Africa204,932.1639,384,718.1
Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa188,217.9715,617,879.8
GuineaGINWestern Africa182,895.0538,159,636.2

02In 2018

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline, then the highest and lowest on each other measure.

Highest

  1. Russia5,560,431.581
  2. Brazil2,948,392.529
  3. Canada2,142,936.813
  4. United States2,092,360.696
  5. DR Congo1,373,826.566

Lowest

  1. Yemenshared0.000
  2. Tuvalushared0.000
  3. Turkmenistanshared0.000
  4. Seychellesshared0.000
  5. Sint Maartenshared0.000

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 2,788.961. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

  • Tree cover in 2000 (hectares, >30% canopy)

    HighestRussia761,226,509.4

    Lowest9 share it

    Middle country: 1,245,965.5

032017 → 2018

Since 2017

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 185values changed, of 210 in both
  • 63 · 122rose · fell
  • 25unchanged

Rose most

  • Russia5,288,940.621 → 5,560,431.581+271,490.960
  • Ghana115,331.759 → 151,530.490+36,198.732
  • Spain98,458.689 → 119,648.839+21,190.150
  • Germany32,999.138 → 52,238.958+19,239.820
  • Australia236,877.520 → 250,753.711+13,876.192

Fell most

  • Brazil4,519,545.898 → 2,948,392.529−1,571,153.369
  • Canada2,559,736.503 → 2,142,936.813−416,799.690
  • United States2,311,359.170 → 2,092,360.696−218,998.474
  • Mozambique359,023.148 → 172,404.619−186,618.529
  • Bolivia462,948.686 → 301,917.652−161,031.035

Changes in value, not in places: a country’s place also moves when others do.

04Caveats

Read before you use

How values are stored

  • 180 distinct values among 210

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 16 decimals. 31 countries share 0.000. Countries sharing a value share a position too.

  • Nothing missing

    Every one of the 210 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

Licence in full
  • .csv

    For a spreadsheet or code

    210 rows · 11 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel

    Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.

    Download tree-cover-loss-2018-nations-inquiry.csv
  • ↗

    The publisher’s original

    World Resources Institute — Global Forest Watch (data: University of Maryland)’s own file, on its own site.

    v20260407

What this site changed: Reshaped to one row per country, with its ISO code; no value recalculated, rescaled or rounded. In full

Licence: CC BY 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

World Resources Institute — Global Forest Watch (data: University of Maryland) (2018). Tree Cover Loss, 2018 [data set], describing 2018. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/tree-cover-loss/2018

0625 held

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