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FAO · Forest Area
Forest area by country
How much of a country's land is forest?
Of the 213 countries compared in 2023, Suriname had the highest reading, 94.448%, and 4 countries shared the lowest reading, 0.000%. In the middle country the figure was 31.080%. Among the 177 countries measured in every edition since 1990, the middle one moved from 29.181% to 30.270%.
Part ofEnvironment & Sustainability
Forest area · 2023
Context statistic
Highest of 213Suriname
94.448%012023 · position · derived
The highest and the lowest
The three countries with the highest values of 213 compared, the three with the lowest, and the highest on each continent. This statistic has no better end, so no country is shown as leading.
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02Every measured country
Forest area on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a higher value. This statistic has no better end, so the shades describe size, not success.
- 0.000–8.549%
- 8.630–22.279%
- 22.441–36.155%
- 36.220–52.766%
- 52.957–94.448%
- No reading in 2023 (1 measured in an earlier edition)
- Oceania
51.852%
the middle country, of 19 measured · 21 members
Micronesia92.157%
Nauru0.000%Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Americas
40.885%
the middle country, of 46 measured · 48 members
Suriname94.448%
Greenland0.001%Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Europe
32.787%
the middle country, of 46 measured · 49 members
Finland73.724%2 share 0.000%
Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Africa
21.683%
the middle country, of 54 measured · 55 members
Gabon91.182%
Egypt0.045%Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Asia
14.149%
the middle country, of 48 measured · 52 members
Brunei72.106%
Qatar0.000%Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Melanesia
63.495%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Solomon Islands90.060%
Vanuatu36.284%Highest and lowest reading in Melanesia.
- Micronesia
52.222%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 7 members
Micronesia92.157%Nauru0.000%Highest and lowest reading in Micronesia.
- Middle Africa
52.125%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Gabon91.182%
Chad3.161%Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- South America
50.889%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 12 members
Suriname94.448%
Argentina10.321%Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Eastern Asia
49.551%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 8 members
Japan68.396%
Mongolia9.092%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- South-eastern Asia
47.445%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 11 members
Brunei72.106%
Singapore20.933%Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Central America
44.057%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica60.399%
Nicaragua25.823%Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Polynesia
43.060%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 7 members
American Samoa85.200%
Tonga12.431%Highest and lowest reading in Polynesia.
- Caribbean
38.178%
the middle country, of 22 measured · 24 members
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines73.179%
Curaçao0.158%Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Southern Europe
34.043%
the middle country, of 15 measured · 17 members
Montenegro61.487%
Gibraltar0.000%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- Eastern Europe
32.921%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 10 members
Russia49.784%
Moldova11.737%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Western Europe
32.476%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Austria47.240%
Monaco0.000%Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.
- Northern Europe
24.641%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 13 members
Finland73.724%
Faroe Islands0.058%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Western Africa
22.744%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Liberia78.142%
Mauritania0.288%Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Eastern Africa
15.956%
the middle country, of 18 measured · 19 members
Seychelles73.261%
Djibouti0.261%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Southern Asia
14.490%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Bhutan71.605%
Afghanistan1.853%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Southern Africa
13.965%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Eswatini29.139%
Lesotho1.137%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
- Central Asia
7.143%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Turkmenistan8.782%
Kazakhstan1.312%Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- Northern Africa
2.692%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 6 members
Morocco12.937%Egypt0.045%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Western Asia
2.372%
the middle country, of 18 measured · 19 members
Georgia40.616%Qatar0.000%Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
New Zealand37.789%
Australia17.421%Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Northern America
4 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Bermuda, Canada, Greenland, United States.
Canada39.462%Greenland0.001%Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
03The whole field at once
The spread
213 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 31.080%; a quarter are above 49.551%, and a quarter below 11.057%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 214 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. “=” marks a position shared with another country. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. Neither end is better. Suriname is 97% forest and Qatar is 0%, and the difference between them is climate rather than policy. A zero is a real reading — some countries genuinely have no forest. Read it alongside agricultural land, which is the other half of the same land budget.
Showing 25 of 214 countries
Values for 2023. The change column compares 2023 with 2022 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
051990–2023 · 34 reference years
Over time
Each point is one reference year from 1990. What a country does to its OWN figure over time is the part that carries meaning.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 177 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 213 | 31.080% | 11.057% – 49.551% | 30.270% |
| 2022 | 213 | 31.059% | 11.074% – 49.784% | 30.270% |
| 2021 | 214 | 30.645% | 11.020% – 49.874% | 30.270% |
| 2020 | 214 | 30.624% | 10.999% – 50.005% | 30.270% |
| 2019 | 214 | 30.605% | 10.978% – 50.136% | 30.270% |
| 2018 | 214 | 30.582% | 10.957% – 50.273% | 30.270% |
| 2017 | 214 | 30.831% | 10.939% – 50.468% | 30.809% |
| 2016 | 214 | 30.958% | 10.929% – 50.774% | 30.814% |
| 2015 | 214 | 30.676% | 10.909% – 50.490% | 30.586% |
| 2014 | 214 | 30.585% | 10.886% – 51.064% | 30.464% |
| 2013 | 214 | 30.776% | 10.868% – 51.219% | 30.644% |
| 2012 | 214 | 30.679% | 10.878% – 51.351% | 30.584% |
| 2011 | 212 | 30.665% | 10.893% – 51.729% | 30.523% |
| 2010 | 209 | 31.020% | 11.040% – 51.843% | 30.459% |
| 2009 | 209 | 30.731% | 11.031% – 52.019% | 30.306% |
| 2008 | 209 | 30.786% | 11.000% – 52.059% | 30.281% |
| 2007 | 209 | 31.003% | 11.074% – 52.059% | 30.191% |
| 2006 | 209 | 31.220% | 11.074% – 52.222% | 30.103% |
| 2005 | 207 | 31.437% | 11.001% – 51.976% | 30.459% |
| 2004 | 207 | 31.654% | 10.985% – 51.662% | 30.659% |
| 2003 | 207 | 31.872% | 11.027% – 51.919% | 30.560% |
| 2002 | 207 | 31.796% | 11.042% – 52.141% | 30.674% |
| 2001 | 207 | 32.241% | 11.058% – 52.159% | 30.834% |
| 2000 | 207 | 32.227% | 11.074% – 52.153% | 30.507% |
| 1999 | 205 | 32.108% | 11.074% – 52.222% | 30.464% |
| 1998 | 205 | 31.988% | 11.074% – 52.222% | 30.420% |
| 1997 | 205 | 31.868% | 11.074% – 52.059% | 30.377% |
| 1996 | 205 | 31.749% | 11.074% – 52.059% | 30.334% |
| 1995 | 205 | 31.629% | 11.074% – 52.112% | 30.290% |
| 1994 | 205 | 31.509% | 11.074% – 52.222% | 30.247% |
| 1993 | 205 | 31.025% | 11.074% – 52.222% | 29.756% |
| 1992 | 201 | 30.285% | 10.897% – 52.203% | 29.397% |
| 1991 | 182 | 29.831% | 11.194% – 54.435% | 29.470% |
| 1990 | 178 | 29.153% | 10.941% – 53.314% | 29.181% |
062022 → 2023
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions — reference years recalculated in one report, not two separate publications. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Rose most
before → after
United States Virgin Islands57.743% → 58.171% · 32nd → 30th+0.429
Fiji63.130% → 63.495% · 23rd → 23rd+0.366
Jamaica55.832% → 56.191% · 38th → 36th+0.359- Costa Rica60.079% → 60.399% · 27th → 27th+0.321
Vietnam47.203% → 47.445% · 58th → 57th+0.242
Fell most
before → after
Cambodia43.944% → 43.062% · 65th → 66th−0.882- Nicaragua26.654% → 25.823% · 115th → 116th−0.831
Paraguay39.250% → 38.545% · 79th → 80th−0.705
São Tomé and Príncipe52.771% → 52.125% · 44th → 47th−0.646
Gambia22.846% → 22.279% · 126th → 128th−0.567
213 countries were measured in both 2022 and 2023.
07Across every edition
Forest area in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
96.226%
Forest area (% of land area)
Lowest reading on record
Reached 136 times by 4 countries — shared, so no holder is named
0.000%
Forest area (% of land area)
Biggest rise between editions
+9.693
54.288% → 63.981%
Biggest fall between editions
−11.152
64.109% → 52.957%
Biggest change since first measured
+20.008
36.114% → 56.122%
Highest most often
32 of 34
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08The measure
About 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.
What the number is: Forest area (% of land area).
09Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Environment & Sustainability, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Moves with
Where forest area is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Renewable Internal Freshwater Resources per CapitaFAO · 181 countries in commonρ 0.69
Moves against
Where forest area is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Water StressKeyFAO · 177 countries in commonρ −0.52
- Agricultural LandFAO · 208 countries in commonρ −0.42
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 126 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
10Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
11Questions
Forest area: questions and answers
Which country has the highest forest area?
Suriname, at 94.448%, among the 213 countries compared in 2023.
Which country has the lowest forest area?
4 countries share the lowest reading, 0.000%, among the 213 compared in 2023, so no single country is named.
How many countries does the Forest Area cover?
213 in 2023, and 214 at least once across all editions. The number measured varies from 178 to 214 between editions.
What is the world average forest area?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 213 compared in 2023, the figure was 31.080%.
Is this Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s own ranking?
No. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Forest Area published?
This site holds 34 reference years, 1990–2023, all recalculated in Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s 2026 report on one method — not 34 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), under CC BY 4.0. From FAOSTAT, fetched through the World Bank’s indicator API (AG.LND.FRST.ZS). Every edition is available on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, unrounded.
12Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Forest Area — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
From FAOSTAT, fetched through the World Bank’s indicator API (AG.LND.FRST.ZS).
Newest edition
Report year 2023Data year 2023
Cite the source as: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. FAOSTAT. Rome: FAO.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-09-06.
How this page reads the numbers
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- This statistic has no better end, so the page describes higher and lower values and never calls a country a leader.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The full note on this data
34 reference years (1990–2023), covering 178 to 214 countries — one of the most complete panels on the site — from FAOSTAT, fetched through the World Bank’s indicator API (AG.LND.FRST.ZS). ⚠ NEITHER END IS BETTER, so this indicator carries no good/bad colouring anywhere on the site and does not feed its topics’ rankings — it is charted on them, not scored by them. Suriname is 97% forest and Qatar is 0%, and the difference between them is climate rather than policy. What a country does to its OWN figure over time is the part that carries meaning, which is what the trend line on each country’s card shows. ⚠ A zero here is a real reading — some countries genuinely have no forest. ⚠ These are not separate published reports — `restatedByReport` names the World Development Indicators release they were pulled from. ⚠ A statistic, not an index. ⚠ No rank is published. A POSITION is derived here (2026-09-10) by ordering the score LARGEST FIRST, and it is a SIZE ORDER rather than a league table: this measure has no better end, so position 1 names the country with the biggest figure and says nothing about how that country is doing. The change arrows stay grey for the same reason, and the indicator is still left out of the Country Index.
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Forest area by country: Forest Area, data from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/forest-area