Global Mangrove Watch (Aberystwyth University, JAXA, soloEO, Wetlands International, The Nature Conservancy) · Mangrove Area
Mangrove forests by country
How much mangrove forest does a country have?
Of the 118 countries compared in 2025, Indonesia had the highest reading, 3,146,543.55, and Nauru had the lowest reading, 0.52. In the middle country the figure was 8,927.08. Among the 118 countries measured in every edition since 1985, the middle one moved from 7,649.41 to 8,927.08.
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Part ofEnvironment & Sustainability
Mangrove forests · 2025
Context statistic
Highest of 118Indonesia
3,146,543.55012025 · values only
The highest and the lowest
The three countries with the highest values of 118 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.
- 1
- 2
- 3
Lowest in 2025
Nauru0.52
Kuwait0.53
Cook Islands0.58
This statistic has no better end: the two ends describe size, not success.
02Every measured country
Mangrove forests 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.
- 0.52–126.98
- 192.34–2,186.66
- 3,014.47–24,488.20
- 25,283.54–160,396.92
- 173,418.17–3,146,543.55
- No reading in 2025
- Africa
13,352.43
the middle country, of 32 measured · 55 members
Nigeria792,543.46
Togo27.27Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Asia
11,902.54
the middle country, of 26 measured · 52 members
Indonesia3,146,543.55Kuwait0.53Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Americas
9,746.77
the middle country, of 40 measured · 48 members
Brazil1,077,056.82
Anguilla8.06Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Oceania
975.19
the middle country, of 20 measured · 21 members
Australia1,069,095.66Nauru0.52Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
17 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- South-eastern Asia
210,612.65
the middle country, of 10 measured · 11 members
Indonesia3,146,543.55
Singapore575.42Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- South America
155,201.04
the middle country, of 7 measured · 12 members
Brazil1,077,056.82
Peru5,078.43Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Melanesia
53,709.68
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Papua New Guinea487,766.29
Vanuatu2,186.66Highest and lowest reading in Melanesia.
- Central America
52,586.40
the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members
Mexico790,147.49
Guatemala21,755.95Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Southern Asia
48,168.46
the middle country, of 6 measured · 9 members
India467,068.18
Maldives192.34Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Western Africa
44,275.89
the middle country, of 12 measured · 16 members
Nigeria792,543.46Togo27.27Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Middle Africa
24,488.20
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Cameroon203,081.90
São Tomé and Príncipe63.08Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Eastern Africa
5,407.56
the middle country, of 10 measured · 19 members
Mozambique304,262.54
Comoros120.22Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Western Asia
1,013.87
the middle country, of 7 measured · 19 members
United Arab Emirates9,658.78Kuwait0.53Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- Caribbean
238.71
the middle country, of 23 measured · 24 members
Cuba382,866.08Anguilla8.06Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Micronesia
63.61
the middle country, of 7 measured · 7 members
Micronesia9,634.21Nauru0.52Highest and lowest reading in Micronesia.
- Polynesia
58.17
the middle country, of 6 measured · 7 members
Tonga1,643.37Cook Islands0.58Highest and lowest reading in Polynesia.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
Australia1,069,095.66
New Zealand29,625.42Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Eastern Asia
3 of 8 measured — too few for a middle: China, Japan, Taiwan.
China25,283.54
Taiwan604.03Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Northern Africa
2 of 6 measured — too few for a middle: Egypt, Sudan.
Sudan558.98
Egypt220.89Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Bermuda, United States.
United States252,545.31
Bermuda21.57Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
- Southern Africa
1 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: South Africa.
South Africa2,025.23Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
03The whole field at once
The spread
118 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 8,927.08; a quarter are above 72,581.54, and a quarter below 278.58. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
Log scale: each gridline is ten times the one before, so countries of very different sizes can be seen on one line.
04All 118 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. No rank or position is shown: too many countries share the same value for an order to mean anything. Neither end is better: the area is set mostly by the length of a country’s tropical coastline, so large tropical coastal countries lead. Each figure has a 95% confidence interval beside it, the range within which the true area very probably lies. A country with no mangroves is not listed.
Showing 25 of 118 countries
Values for 2025. The change column compares 2025 with 2024 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
051985–2025 · 41 reference years
Over time
Each point is one year from 1985, all from one release that recalculated the whole series. Satellite coverage is thin before about 2000 and gaps were filled from neighbouring years, so read the slope from 2000 onward.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 118 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 118 | 8,927.08 | 278.58 – 72,581.54 | 8,927.08 |
| 2024 | 118 | 8,808.06 | 273.20 – 73,102.69 | 8,808.06 |
| 2023 | 118 | 8,691.12 | 273.96 – 72,908.23 | 8,691.12 |
| 2022 | 118 | 8,688.11 | 285.48 – 76,811.29 | 8,688.11 |
| 2021 | 118 | 8,555.67 | 274.38 – 74,167.60 | 8,555.67 |
| 2020 | 118 | 8,424.30 | 274.44 – 72,619.88 | 8,424.30 |
| 2019 | 118 | 8,448.09 | 275.64 – 70,956.74 | 8,448.09 |
| 2018 | 118 | 8,433.27 | 275.57 – 69,441.36 | 8,433.27 |
| 2017 | 118 | 8,336.87 | 272.22 – 68,793.47 | 8,336.87 |
| 2016 | 118 | 8,445.96 | 294.76 – 68,441.86 | 8,445.96 |
| 2015 | 118 | 8,417.72 | 294.11 – 67,495.69 | 8,417.72 |
| 2014 | 118 | 8,323.06 | 287.07 – 66,806.26 | 8,323.06 |
| 2013 | 118 | 8,130.61 | 254.61 – 65,996.67 | 8,130.61 |
| 2012 | 118 | 8,102.29 | 256.10 – 65,761.80 | 8,102.29 |
| 2011 | 118 | 7,835.22 | 256.96 – 65,738.81 | 7,835.22 |
| 2010 | 118 | 7,784.34 | 254.54 – 65,771.07 | 7,784.34 |
| 2009 | 118 | 7,717.11 | 249.71 – 65,607.13 | 7,717.11 |
| 2008 | 118 | 7,694.56 | 231.05 – 64,930.27 | 7,694.56 |
| 2007 | 118 | 7,589.04 | 227.59 – 64,511.67 | 7,589.04 |
| 2006 | 118 | 7,444.99 | 225.95 – 64,227.05 | 7,444.99 |
| 2005 | 118 | 7,335.98 | 225.36 – 63,901.81 | 7,335.98 |
| 2004 | 118 | 7,311.75 | 221.58 – 63,348.56 | 7,311.75 |
| 2003 | 118 | 7,656.24 | 216.86 – 63,196.24 | 7,656.24 |
| 2002 | 118 | 7,677.90 | 215.25 – 63,203.89 | 7,677.90 |
| 2001 | 118 | 7,690.09 | 215.52 – 63,388.53 | 7,690.09 |
| 2000 | 118 | 7,718.44 | 213.69 – 63,566.31 | 7,718.44 |
| 1999 | 118 | 7,729.02 | 201.84 – 63,580.19 | 7,729.02 |
| 1998 | 118 | 7,848.14 | 198.54 – 64,108.95 | 7,848.14 |
| 1997 | 118 | 7,815.14 | 197.65 – 64,332.79 | 7,815.14 |
| 1996 | 118 | 7,813.09 | 197.83 – 64,467.00 | 7,813.09 |
| 1995 | 118 | 7,792.71 | 197.77 – 64,271.50 | 7,792.71 |
| 1994 | 118 | 7,737.68 | 197.74 – 63,798.15 | 7,737.68 |
| 1993 | 118 | 7,651.74 | 197.52 – 64,026.32 | 7,651.74 |
| 1992 | 118 | 7,642.11 | 197.52 – 64,065.60 | 7,642.11 |
| 1991 | 118 | 7,636.31 | 197.50 – 64,082.11 | 7,636.31 |
| 1990 | 118 | 7,634.93 | 197.43 – 64,028.99 | 7,634.93 |
| 1989 | 118 | 7,630.72 | 197.37 – 63,792.79 | 7,630.72 |
| 1988 | 118 | 7,645.41 | 197.33 – 63,206.15 | 7,645.41 |
| 1987 | 118 | 7,645.20 | 197.20 – 63,016.12 | 7,645.20 |
| 1986 | 118 | 7,645.84 | 197.20 – 62,956.20 | 7,645.84 |
| 1985 | 118 | 7,649.41 | 197.16 – 63,002.01 | 7,649.41 |
062024 → 2025
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- Indonesia3,116,978.28 → 3,146,543.55+29,565.27
- Australia1,050,207.06 → 1,069,095.66+18,888.60
- Brazil1,068,232.42 → 1,077,056.82+8,824.40
Philippines298,256.93 → 303,777.88+5,520.95- India463,086.01 → 467,068.18+3,982.17
118 countries were measured in both 2024 and 2025.
07Across every edition
Mangrove forests in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
3,392,300.70
Mangrove forest area (hectares)
Lowest reading on record
Reached 41 times by 2 countries — shared, so no holder is named
0.00
Mangrove forest area (hectares)
Biggest rise between editions
+29,565.27
3,116,978.28 → 3,146,543.55
Biggest fall between editions
−121,968.45
3,373,193.13 → 3,251,224.67
Biggest change since first measured
+139,649.99
929,445.67 → 1,069,095.66
Highest most often
41 of 41
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08The measure
About mangrove forests
This is the area of mangrove forest a country has, in hectares, mapped from satellite images by Global Mangrove Watch. Mangroves are the salt-tolerant forests of tropical coasts: they shelter shorelines from storms and store large amounts of carbon.
What the number is: Mangrove forest area (hectares).
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 mangrove forests is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Tree Cover LossWorld Resources Institute — Global Forest Watch (data: University of Maryland) · 110 countries in commonρ 0.77
- Land AreaFAO · 117 countries in commonρ 0.69
- Burned AreaGWIS · 109 countries in commonρ 0.68
Moves against
Where mangrove forests is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Political Stability and Absence of ViolenceKeyWorld Bank Group · 112 countries in commonρ −0.51
- International Migrants as a Share of PopulationUN DESA Population Division · 117 countries in commonρ −0.51
- Services ExportsUNCTAD · 94 countries in commonρ −0.50
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 227 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
11Questions
Mangrove forests: questions and answers
Which country has the highest mangrove forests?
Indonesia, at 3,146,543.55, among the 118 countries compared in 2025.
Which country has the lowest mangrove forests?
Nauru, at 0.52, among the 118 countries compared in 2025.
How many countries does the Mangrove Area cover?
118 in 2025.
What is the world average mangrove forests?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 118 compared in 2025, the figure was 8,927.08.
Is this Global Mangrove Watch (Aberystwyth University, JAXA, soloEO, Wetlands International, The Nature Conservancy)’s own ranking?
No ranking is shown. Global Mangrove Watch (Aberystwyth University, JAXA, soloEO, Wetlands International, The Nature Conservancy) publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything, so none is derived.
How often is the Mangrove Area published?
This site holds 41 reference years, 1985–2025, all recalculated in Global Mangrove Watch (Aberystwyth University, JAXA, soloEO, Wetlands International, The Nature Conservancy)’s 2026 report on one method — not 41 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From Global Mangrove Watch (Aberystwyth University, JAXA, soloEO, Wetlands International, The Nature Conservancy), under CC BY 4.0. From Global Mangrove Watch’s own country table, published on Zenodo. The areas include a small downward correction the team applied after checking its maps against reference points. Overseas territories it reports separately are left out rather than added to another country. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
12Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Mangrove Area — Global Mangrove Watch (Aberystwyth University, JAXA, soloEO, Wetlands International, The Nature Conservancy)
From Global Mangrove Watch’s own country table, published on Zenodo. The areas include a small downward correction the team applied after checking its maps against reference points. Overseas territories it reports separately are left out rather than added to another country.
Newest edition
Report year 2025Data year 2025
Cite the source as: Bunting, P. et al. (2026). Global Mangrove Watch: Timeseries of Mangrove Extent, version 4.1.12. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21346457
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-10-03.
How this page reads the numbers
- No rank or position is shown: Global Mangrove Watch (Aberystwyth University, JAXA, soloEO, Wetlands International, The Nature Conservancy) publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything.
- 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 file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Mangrove forests by country: Mangrove Area, data from Global Mangrove Watch (Aberystwyth University, JAXA, soloEO, Wetlands International, The Nature Conservancy). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/mangrove-area